Santander are taking over RBS's branch network - what difference will it make if you're one of the 1.8 million customers that will be affected?
Santander are increasing their presence on the British High Street once again - this time it's the RBS branch network that they've set their sights on.
What's happening?
Within the next 12-18 months the RBS branch network in England and Wales will be taken over by Spanish banking giant Santander. In Scotland, it's Natwest branches that will be switching from blue to red.
Providing it all gets the go-ahead (which at the moment looks very likely) all 311 RBS branches in England and Wales will have been rebranded to Santander by December 2011, as will the 7 Natwest branches in Scotland.
However, the Natwest branch network in England and Wales, and all RBS branches in Scotland will remain unaffected.
Why?
When the Royal Bank of Scotland received their multi-billion pound bail-out from the Government, they were forced to agree to the sale of part of their branch network in order to comply with competition laws.
Santander had been tipped as the most likely candidate but details of the sale have only been confirmed, and announced, this week.
What does this mean for my banking?
Firstly, if you hold accounts with Natwest in England or Wales, or RBS in Scotland, you will not be at all affected by this takeover - your banking will still remain with the RBS Group.
However, if you hold branch-based accounts with RBS in England or Wales, or Natwest in Scotland, you will - at some point in the next 18 months - see your banking transferred to Santander.
This means that any current accounts, savings accounts, loans or mortgages that you took out in an RBS (England & Wales) or Natwest (Scotland) branch will be owned, and operated by Santander.
Credit cards, insurance, investments and RBS shares will not be affected by the branch network sale.
If you hold accounts with RBS branches both in England or Wales and in Scotland, you'll find that your Scottish-based accounts won't be affected by the sale, but your accounts based in branches in England or Wales will, as such they will be rebranded to Santander accordingly.
If you hold online-only accounts it doesn't look like you will be affected by the sale as it is only branch-based RBS (England & Wales) and Natwest (Scotland) accounts that are being sold to Santander.
What difference will it make?
At the moment it's business as usual, however, once the sale and switch is complete your local RBS (England & Wales) or Natwest (Scotland) branch will be rebranded to Santander.
Your account numbers and sort codes will remain the same throughout the transition and you will still be able to use existing debit cards and cheque books accordingly. The interest rates, fees and terms and conditions applied to your financial products will also be upheld until the switchover is complete.
That said, neither RBS or Santander are able to offer anything in the way of a guarantee on rates, products or fees after the sale is complete so it's going to be a case of 'wait and see' if you're an existing customer.
How can I find out if my branch will be affected?
If you know your sort code you can use the Santander-sale branch search on the RBS website to find out definitively whether your local branch is going to be affected or call their Branch Sale Helpline on 0800 210 0214. Contacting your local branch directly is another way to find out how things stand.
What should I do?
For the moment, if you're happy with the financial products that you have with RBS and/or Natwest then you don't need to do anything but keep an eye on their competitiveness.
You'll be informed in writing of any significant changes to your account terms and conditions as the sale completes, but this shouldn't be for at least 12 months.
