The Co-op Bank has now confirmed plans to buy 632 UK branches of Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester.

With an estimated 4.8 million branch customers changing hands too, this represents a massive shake-up of British banking.

While a price has already been agreed and initial details of the switch decided, the sale still needs to get FSA approval. This does have the potential to stop the acquisition, but with the buy-out generally seen as favourable it's not expected to get anything other than a green light.

If you are a customer of Lloyds TSB or Cheltenham and Gloucester it's quite possible that you will be affected by the sale.

If the branch that you are registered with is sold, your accounts will be transferred to the Co-op.

While your account numbers and terms and conditions should remain the same in the short term, the bank that manages your money will change.

Read our guide: The Co-op - Lloyds TSB Branch Takeover to find out which branches are being sold and what it means for you and your finances.

What else is happening?

The first M&S bank has now opened its doors in London's Marble Arch

15 more branches are to follow in the coming months; with 50 planned by the end of next year. While they're still only offering savings accounts, credit cards, travel money, loans and insurance they've confirmed the details of the current accounts they'll have available from October. These have been very much designed with M&S customers in mind, charging up to £20 a month in return for in-store perks and insurance.

O2 customers are in line for a pay-out after the network downtime many experienced last week

Those on PAYG will get 10% extra on the first top up they make in September, while those on contract will get a 10% refund on their July subscription credited to their September bill. All customers will also get a £10 O2 voucher by way of compensation.

The OFT have new powers that will enable them to properly deal with dodgy finance companies 

While they were previously able to revoke the consumer credit licences that allow certain companies to lend money or collect debts, it was possible for unscrupulous lenders and debt agencies to continue trading for up to two years thereafter because of an outdated appeal process. This is no longer the case, so a crackdown by the OFT can now stop a firm that poses a risk to consumers from trading almost instantly!

The UK government borrowed a massive £14.4 billion last month

That's a billion pounds more than was expected - talk about overspending!!

Rents in England and Wales have hit a record high

New figures from a nationwide letting agency show that after rising by a further 0.9% in June, the average tenant now pays £718 a month for their rented accommodation - that's 2.4% more than a year ago.

Higher rate taxpayers that pay into a private pension are missing out

The private pensions payments of higher rate taxpayers are missing out on a slice of almost £300m tax relief from the HMRC - a mistake that's costing them big. A new report has suggested that only 22% of higher rate taxpayers paying into a private pension currently claim tax relief on their contributions - this costs them £85 a month, and over £1,000 a year on average!

HSBC are the latest of the big banks to be implicated in the LIBOR rigging scandal

The FSA are apparently investigating the actions of traders at a number of other large international banks too - Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank are just some of the names being bandied around!