Last week heralded the launch of the Metro Bank. This is the first new high street bank in more than 100 years. It opened with big promises of revolutionising the British banking experience, saying that it was going to offer retail opening hours, unparalleled service and a range of products that will be suitable for everyone.

The bank will be opening from 8am till 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am till 6pm on Saturdays and 11am till 4pm on Sundays, as well as being open on almost all traditional bank holidays. In fact the only days it will be closed, are Christmas day, New Years day, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

The bank is promising customers that it will take only 15 minutes to open a bank account including obtaining either a credit or debit card which will be printed in store rather than off site as most cards are currently.
Branches will have customer toilets in them, and will allow dogs to be brought into the store as well even going as far as to provide them with a bowl of water while you’re served. There will be free counting machines in branch which can be used by customers and non customers alike, and safe deposit boxes which will be rentable for £100 a year.

All sounds good so far, but unfortunately though, none of the products that Metro Bank has launched thus far, have been competitive enough to make it onto the best-buy tables.
Apart from the unusual opening hours, Metro Bank is taking the initiative to be more personalised in its business banking services as well as its personal banking. It will be giving local managers the ability to make decisions on loans for local companies bringing back a service which has long since vanished from most high street banks.

Metro Bank’s chief executive Craig Donaldson has said ‘We know that UK banking customers are looking for a new, convenient way of banking, with easy to understand products, and that’s what we will offer.”
The group opened its first branch last week in Holborn, and plans to open a second branch in Earls Court later this month, with ten more branches set to open across greater London during the next two years. Over the following decade, it intends to expand its network to over 200 outlets, however all are currently planned to be within the M25 area.