The creation of a new TSB, and the subsequent rebranding of Lloyds TSB as Lloyds Bank, followed the failed bid to sell the branches to the Co-operative Bank earlier this year, which was forced on the group by European competition laws.
When the £750m sale failed, and the Co-operative Bank subsequently went into crisis, Lloyds Banking Group was forced to look elsewhere and, lacking another buyer, spun off the branches into a separate bank, with a stock market flotation planned for 2014.
The TSB launch was hit by what Lloyds Banking Group described as “intermittent” IT problems which were later resolved, while group chief executive Antonio Horta-Ossrio hailed the re-forming of the bank after 18 years.
He called it a “unique event” that would “increase choice and competition on the high street”.
Adviser View
Daniel Cawley, partner of East Sussex-based 121 Financial Services, said: “Any increase in competition has to be good for consumers, however, I would be concerned that it just becomes an offshoot for Lloyds. It’ll be interesting to see if it offers any innovative products or just rate variations.”
