More than 600 Lloyds TSB branches will change to a TSB brand
The transfer of customers from Lloyds to TSB has left one customer unable to access his mortgage money.
Simon Wells from Cambridgeshire took out a self-build mortgage with Cheltenham and Gloucester to fund the building of his new home.
His mortgage is being transferred along with his current account to the new TSB brand which will be launched on Monday.
But when Simon needed £45,000 to pay his builder, he was not able to find his details on any system.
He told Radio 4's Money Box programme: "The mortgage advisers are unable to help me because I've gone off their system. That is both Cheltenham and Gloucester and Lloyds.
"When we call the call centre, they say it's really a mortgage adviser who needs to help you, and yet there are no branches or mortgage advisers with TSB's branch network because it hasn't been launched yet."
Simon says if he cannot access the money soon and if his builder cannot wait, he may have to pay some of the bill on his credit card.
"I know we're a tiny cog in the database of mortgages they manage, but unfortunately it's maybe these little bits and pieces which get left behind when they're dealing with simplistic systems to move across."
Millions of customers who are being moved from Lloyds to a new TSB Bank are being promised a "seamless transition" by the banking group's boss.
Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, told the BBC that the only change they would notice would be a change of name.
Lloyds is moving the customers of 631 branches to the new brand.
Lloyds was ordered to sell the branches by the European Commission. The sale was a condition of the government's bail-out for the bank, which is 39%-owned by the taxpayer.
The plan to sell them is known as Project Verde.
Switching accountsOn Monday, the bank will be operating independently on the High Street, with the branches being rebranded, letterheads being changed, and a new website ready to operate.
Customers of the 631 branches that will be transferred to TSB had no choice in seeing their accounts move to the new TSB brand. They received letters by the turn of the year explaining what would happen, but some have still voiced their frustration and confusion.
Customers' bank account numbers and sort codes will remain the same. No-one's cards will stop working. The cards will simply be reissued with a new name for the bank, in due course.
Reviving the TSB brand name
- The new bank will be called TSB and operate independently
- The name is drawn from the movement of savings banks that began in 1810
- The first was set up for working people in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire. When it began, no withdrawals could be made without the approval of the trustees
- The savings bank movement grew, with deposits hitting £1bn for the first time in 1951
- The TSB Group was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1986
- It merged with Lloyds in 1995
Source: Lloyds Banking Group
The legal entity of TSB is already in place, with a banking licence. That means that £85,000 of savings per customer is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, were the institution to go bust - as with all other UK-registered banks.
The TSB name has been revived after being merged with Lloyds in 1995. The branches that are moving are those of the former Cheltenham & Gloucester building society and of Lloyds TSB Scotland, as well as a cross-section of Lloyds branches in England and Wales.
Money Box is broadcast on Saturdays at 12:00 GMT on BBC Radio 4 and repeated on Sundays at 21:00 GMT.
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Source: BBC News - Business http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23989414#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
