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Tesco took a major step towards becoming a fully fledged bank today with the opening of a customer care centre in Glasgow which will employ 800 people.
The supermarket giant has made little secret of the fact that it wants to grow its existing financial services business, which is largely based on insurance, credit cards and loans, into a full rival to the widely discredited High Street banks.
Andrew Higginson, chief executive of Tesco retailing services, said: “The opening of the new customer service centre will be a significant step towards Tesco Personal Finance offering a full banking service.
“It is hard to ignore that people's trust in the banking sector is at a very low ebb. Additionally the creation of 800 new jobs in the current climate cannot be ignored.”
Tesco received a £5 million grant from the Scottish government for the new centre and also got a ringing endorsement from Chancellor Alistair Darling for its plans.
Tesco Personal Finance was set up 12 years as a joint venture between the supermarket group and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Tesco bought out Royal Bank of Scotland's half share last year for £950 million allowing it move into more-mainstream banking areas such as current accounts and mortgages.
The business has almost six million customers and Tesco is currently trialling bank branches within various store formats with plans to roll out 30 branches by the end of this year.
Reader views (4)
No, no, no! The big supermarkets have already destroyed to many businesses. It is unhealthy for so many areas to be focused on one company. They are either retailers or they are bankers NOT BOTH!
- Michael, London
M&S destroyed itself by going into financial services and pursuing easy money rather than working for it as retailers. Tesco will go downhill as banking becomes the source of easy profit and retailing struggles to generate the same return on capital
- Tomtom, Leeds England
I definitely won't be opening an account with tesco. You're joking? No way would I give that ghastly outfit a penny. Hope the idea fails. I wouldn't trust them.
- Jb Sussex, hove sussex uk
Stop this scourge of Tesco getting into every business sector. Limit it to food and homeware products.
- Dhan Raj, Basildon
