Virgin have this week begun their attempt to revolutionise banking as they takeover the old Northern Rock branches.
As well as taking on Northern Rock’s mortgage, insurance and savings customers, the branches will also continue to offer their existing credit card, pension and investment products. A Virgin Money Current Account is likely to be launched in 2013, and Virgin hope to have the 75 branches of Northern Rock rebranded over the next 9 months.
Virgin have also started promoted their bank with an online and TV advert, which can be seen below, or on their dedicated Youtube channel. The advert charts some of their successes in the last 40 years, as well as giving an idea of how some of their “Virgin Money Lounges”, which are launching in 5 UK cities, will look.
Bearded balloon-loving billionaire Branson bragged:
“The Virgin Group has always gone into markets where there’s been an opportunity to make things better for customers. We’ve been doing it for 40 years, with some real milestone moments along the way, from our first steps in the record industry to launching Virgin Atlantic. Now we want to do the same for banking. It’s not something we take lightly. There’s a lot of hard work ahead. But we have the people, the products and the plans in place.”
What do you think about Virgin’s latest venture? Will it be able to compete with the current crop of high street banks? Will you bank there? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
‘will it be able to compete?’ The current crop of banks have a lot to answer for and Virgin however good or bad will be a welcome addition to the market for many people.