Martin Lewis warning as one million bank customers could be moved next year

21 June 2024 , 09:25

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Martin Lewis is founder of MoneySavingExpert (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com has explained how one million Sainsbury’s Bank customers could be moved to NatWest next year.

Sainsbury's Bank yesterday confirmed it is selling the bulk of its banking business, including its credit cards, loans and savings accounts, to high street giant NatWest. The deal will see NatWest take on £1.4billion of unsecured personal loans, £1.1billion of credit card balances and about £2.6billion of customer deposits.

Sainsbury’s Bank customers have been told that, for now, there will be no change to their accounts - but in a new article published after the announcement was made, MSE said they could potentially be moved over to NatWest next year. This is because the deal is expected to go through by March next year.

NatWest is expected to take on around one million Sainsbury's Bank customers. The sale does not include Sainsbury’s Bank’s commission income businesses, such as insurance, cash points and travel money, or Argos Financial Services.

MSE said: “If you have a credit card, loan or savings with Sainsbury's Bank, you could be moved to NatWest next year as part of a deal between the two banks – but it's still early days and there's NO change right now.” The article continued by saying: “Sainsbury's Bank says that there'll be no immediate changes to any of its customers' terms and conditions, adding that they don't need to take any action. This means you can keep using Sainsbury's Bank products and services as normal for the time being.”

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Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s CEO, said:“There will be no immediate change for our bank customers as a result of this announcement. Today’s news means we will focus all our time and resources going forward on growing our core retail business, delivering great quality and value, week in week out.”

Paul Thwaite, NatWest Group CEO, said: “Following today’s announcement, we look forward to welcoming new customers to NatWest Group, where they will benefit from our expertise and award-winning digital banking offering. This Transaction is a great opportunity to accelerate the growth of our Retail banking business at attractive returns, in line with our strategic priorities.”

Levi Winchester