Quantcast
Menu
Save, make, understand money

News

Norwich & Peterborough current accounts to be closed

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
26/01/2017

Yorkshire Building Society Group plans to close 28 Norwich and Peterborough branches from September this year, in a move that will see it adopt the Yorkshire brand across all consumer businesses.

Existing customers with Norwich & Peterborough will have their current accounts withdrawn while the group works with these consumers to identify what the proposals mean for their circumstances.

The mutual also intends to close 20 branches of Yorkshire Building Society as well as amending its product range, which it believes will deliver improved long-term value to its customers.

The Yorkshire has 3.3 million customers and will plans to maintain a network of 260 branches across the UK under the sole brand of Yorkshire Building Society. Accord Mortgages will not be affected.

Mike Regnier, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “As a mutual, it is important that we always act in the best long-term interests of our membership and evolve the business in line with their changing needs.

“We continually review all areas of the business to ensure we remain focused on what our members require while utilising their money as effectively as possible. This means we must sometimes make adjustments to the way the business operates.”

The building society said it remained committed to providing face-to-face service but noted that the driving factor behind the planned branch closures was a growing preference among consumers to transact online.

Regnier added: “The changing landscape of the current account market means continuing to provide this service and to extend it to new customers would require a significant increase in our investment in this part of the business. Although we understand the proposal may be disappointing to current account customers, it follows thorough research and assessment. We believe the level of investment required would not represent good long-term value for the wider membership.”