TSB Bank (United Kingdom)

The TSB name was previously used by the Trustee Savings Bank prior to its merger with Lloyds Bank in 1995,[11] resulting in the formation of Lloyds TSB in 1999.

The merger was structured as a reverse takeover by TSB. Lloyds Bank was delisted from the London Stock Exchange and TSB Group was renamed Lloyds TSB Group in 1995, with former Lloyds Bank shareholders owning a 70% equity interest in the share capital, effected through a scheme of arrangement. The new bank commenced trading in 1999, after the statutory process of integration was completed.[12] The original TSB Bank transferred engagements to Lloyds Bank which then changed its name to Lloyds TSB Bank; at the same time, TSB Bank Scotland absorbed Lloyds' three Scottish branches becoming Lloyds TSB Scotland.

In 1986, the legal entity, Trustee Savings Bank, was renamed TSB Scotland (and, in 1989, TSB Bank Scotland), before becoming Lloyds TSB Scotland in 1999.[13] This company was re-registered under the name TSB Bank in 2013.[14] The parent, TSB Banking Group, was registered in England in 2014 and later that year TSB Bank ceased to be part of the Lloyds Banking Group.[15]

TSB Newcastle city centre, a former Lloyds TSB branch

Lloyds TSB Group bought HBOS in January 2009 and renamed itself Lloyds Banking Group.[16] In 2009, following the UK bank rescue package, the Government of the United Kingdom took a 43.4% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, which later announced that it would sell a standalone retail banking business of 632 branches and most accounts held at those branches in order to comply with European Commission state aid requirements.[17]

Codenamed "Verde", the group's divestment plan identified 632 branches which were transferred to a new business. Customers with accounts held by the branches and staff employed within them were also transferred. A number of Lloyds TSB branches in England and Wales, together with all branches of Lloyds TSB Scotland and Cheltenham & Gloucester, were brought together to form the new business, which operates under the TSB brand.[9] The remainder of the Lloyds TSB business was rebranded back to the Lloyds Bank name.[18]

Lloyds Banking Group reached a heads-of-terms agreement in July 2012 to sell the Verde branches to The Co-operative Bank for £750 million.[19][20] The final transfer of TSB Bank to the new owner was planned to be completed by late 2013. In February 2013, it was reported that Lloyds Banking Group was considering a stock market flotation of the TSB business as an alternative, should the transfer not be completed, and they would make a final decision by the end of July. The Co-operative Banking Group blamed current economic conditions for delays in completing the deal and had sold its life insurance assets for £200 million in an effort to secure £1 billion needed to complete the deal.[21][22]

In April 2013, The Co-operative Group announced that it would not proceed with the transaction, citing the economic environment and increasing regulatory requirements in the financial sector.[23]

TSB Bank plc began operating as a separate business within Lloyds Banking Group on 9 September 2013,[24] with the intention of selling it off through an initial public offering.[25] Lloyds Banking Group announced that 25% of TSB's shares would be floated on 24 June 2014,[26] but, with the offer being ten-times oversubscribed, 38.5% of shares in TSB Banking Group plc, were sold at 260p on 20 June.[27] Unconditional trading in the shares started on 25 June 2014. A further 11.5% of TSB Banking Group shares were sold by Lloyds Banking Group in September 2014, bringing its share holding down to 50%.[28]

According to Lloyds' chief executive, António Horta-Osório, the separation cost £1 billion more to perform than the new bank is worth.[29]

On 12 March 2015, TSB confirmed a takeover bid by the Spanish banking group Sabadell for £1.7 billion, less than a year after it rejoined the stock market through Lloyds Banking Group's sale of 50% of its holding.[30] TSB agreed to the takeover on 20 March 2015 [31] which was completed on 8 July 2015.[6] After the acquisition, a new board of directors was formed, including Tomás Varela and Miguel Montes Güell.[32]

In October 2015, Sabadell Group outlined its plans for TSB to continue as a competitor in the UK banking sector, by further expanding into the small business banking market, and introducing cardless emergency cash and mobile payments.[33] Sabadell also confirmed that the TSB name would be retained, as the group felt it was a "very powerful" brand with "traction" in the UK, unlike the parent brand, which is "virtually unknown".[34] TSB's banking platform, which had used that of Lloyds Banking Group, was migrated to a UK-based replica of Sabadell's Proteo platform by the end of 2017.[35]

A planned migration of customer records from the Lloyds Banking Group platform to the Sabadell Proteo platform commencing on 20 April 2018 resulted in the loss of internet and mobile banking services for many customers for at least a week. Additionally, some customers reported seeing detailed account information of other customers, including balances of accounts other than their own.[36]

On 26 April 2018, Paul Pester, then chief executive, stated that TSB was "on its knees" with the bank's computers continuing to have "a capacity issue" that was preventing about one million customers having access to online banking services.[37]

Two weeks after commencement of the migration, failures were still being reported with services such as the online banking application giving internal SQL database-related errors. Payment difficulties, particularly with business and mortgage accounts continued into a fourth week[38] and it was revealed that TSB had rejected an offer of assistance from Lloyds Banking Group at the start of the migration crisis.[39] A former TSB board member was quoted by the BBC as saying "human error, pride and software failure" led to TSB's "dreadful" response.[38] There were further problems affecting login to online services, and the ability to transfer money on 3 September.[40]

On 4 September 2018, Pester resigned due to the IT failure, and Richard Meddings, the non-executive chairman, became executive chairman until a new CEO could be found.[41] In November 2018 TSB announced Debbie Crosbie as new CEO.[42]

In 2019 TSB returned to profit.[43] In November 2019, TSB was struck by "new IT glitch".[44] TSB closed 82 branches in 2020 to cut down expenses.[45] Further branch closures in 2021 and 2022 brought the network down to 220 branches.

In 2022, the bank was fined £48.65 million for the poor migration process.[46] In 2023, the Prudential Regulation Authority personally fined Carlos Abarca £81,000 for his part in the debacle. He had been the chief information officer at the TSB at the time. The fine was reduced from £116,600 after he agreed to settle the matter.[47]

TSB's logo is similar to the logo of the former Trustee Savings Bank and consists of three interlocking circles in varying shades of blue bearing the name of the bank. Since its launch in 2013, TSB has used the slogan "Local banking for Britain" rather than "The bank that likes to say yes" slogan used by the former Trustee Savings Bank. TSB's launch advertising campaign featured a short film about the bank's founder Henry Duncan and was voiced by Patrick Stewart.[48]

On its formation in September 2013, TSB Bank plc had:

• 631 branches, of which:[49]
  • 282 were former Lloyds TSB branches in England and Wales
  • 164 were former Cheltenham & Gloucester branches
  • 185 were former Lloyds TSB Scotland branches
• Administration centres in Edinburgh, Bristol, Gloucester, Birmingham and London[50]
• Telephony centres in Sunderland and Swansea

TSB established Whistletree as a distinct trading division to administer the £3.3 billion in mortgages assets it purchased in November 2015 from the nationalised NRAM plc, the "bad bank" formed from the former Northern Rock.[53] The acquisition was completed in July 2016.[54] The division's name refers to the blue tree branding used by TSB Bank and the whistling that features in its television advertising.[55] It is served by a standalone website and separate contact centre, and TSB branch staff have no access to these accounts.[56]

In January 2017, TSB Bank plc agreed to acquire the loan and mortgage assets of Airdrie Savings Bank which was wound up on 28 April 2017. These assets are also administered by the Whistletree division of the bank.[57]