Sainsbury’s core banking business to be acquired by NatWest
Sainsbury’s is to sell its core banking business to NatWest as it looks to focus on growing its retail offering.
The news follows the retailer’s announcement back in January that it would be embarking on a phased withdrawal from the division.
NatWest has agreed to acquire Sainsbury’s Bank’s personal loan, credit card and retail deposit portfolios.
However, the purchase will not encompass Sainsbury’s Bank’s commission income businesses, including insurance, ATMs and travel money, which the retailer said have a strong connection to its core retail offer. It will also not include the Argos Financial Services business.
The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2025 when banking business customers will transfer to NatWest.
Sainsbury’s is expecting the bank to return excess capital of at least £250 million to Sainsbury’s once the phased withdrawal from the core banking business has been completed and the future model for Argos Financial Services is in place. The retailer intends to return this capital to shareholders.
Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said: “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.”
