The Co-operative Bank has bagged the entire Sainsbury’s Bank mortgage portfolio of some 3,500 customers with balances of £479m.
Sainsbury’s customers are expected to transfer to the Co-op over a period of 12 months to ensure a smooth process.
Co-Op Bank chief executive Nick Slope says: “Once the transfer activity is complete, we look forward to welcoming the new customers who will benefit from our ambitious new technology platform, which will simplify our banking services and will make us more efficient, giving us the flexibility to introduce new products and services. This transaction, our first portfolio acquisition in more than a decade, further demonstrates the progress we have made in recent years and our strength in what remains a competitive UK mortgage market.”
He says the mortgage customers will ultimately benefit from the Co-op’s “ongoing transformation and technology re-platforming programme”.
Meanwhile Jim Brown, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s Bank, says the move is key to transforming his business’s empire.
He comments: “Closing the chapter on our mortgage offering is a big step in simplifying our business. It’s been really important throughout the process that we find a buyer that will best meet the needs of our customers. We chose The Co-operative Bank as it’s a well-known UK mortgage provider, committed to providing excellent customer service, so we are confident that will serve our customers well.”
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Wonder how many are dodgy?
Or just very time consuming to own with rates going up as they have. I would imagine they are faced with employing a large team to deal with all the calls and late payments, cheaper and less hassle to offload all that to someone who has that infrastructure already. But as you say, perhaps the risk of defaults isnt palatable either. Thats why sainsburys sells food, they should stick to what they know.
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