NatWest Group plc has announced an agreement with Sainsbury’s Bank plc to acquire its retail banking assets and liabilities, which include credit card, unsecured personal loan, and savings accounts.
The acquisition will add approximately £2.5bn of gross customer assets to NatWest Group, comprising £1.4bn in unsecured personal loans and £1.1bn in credit card balances. Additionally, the deal will bring around £2.6bn of customer deposits and approximately one million customer accounts.
NatWest Group CEO Paul Thwaite 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. As well as a complementary customer base, the transaction is expected to add scale to our credit card and unsecured personal lending business within existing risk appetite.
“NatWest Group has a strong track record of successful integration, and we are focussed on ensuring a smooth transition for customers.”
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts added: “I am pleased to be announcing this news today. NatWest’s values and customer focus are a close fit with ours and as one of the UK’s leading banks, NatWest’s scale and financial services expertise will ensure our existing financial services customers continue to be well looked after.
“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.”
