Barclays Bank has agreed to buy ING Direct UK, taking on its £10.9bn deposits and £5.6bn mortgage book.
The deal will involve the transfer of 750 ING Direct staff and 1.5 million customers to Barclays. Dutch banking group ING announced its plan to exit the UK in August, as it seeks to raise funds to repay a bailout from the Dutch government in 2008. Barclays said it would eventually integrate the ING customers into its existing UK retail business. "We intend to maintain the high standard of service and honour the existing terms and conditions [customers] have experienced with ING Direct," said the head of Barclays' UK retail banking business, Ashok Vaswani.....Read more here
Savers could lose out as a result of Barclay’s buyout of ING Direct UK, experts have warned. The deal could mean fewer products for savers to choose from as ING Direct is gradually absorbed into Barclays. ING Direct’s products regularly offer the best deals for savers, often appearing on best buy tables. The brand is credited with starting a ‘savings revolution’ nearly a decade ago with its competitive market leading deals. Analysts say that Barclays could use the deal to sharpen its existing offering. The bank has agreed to honour deals of existing ING customers, assuring them that they will enjoy at least equivalent terms and conditions to those they currently enjoy. However other analysts suggest that customers may choose to go elsewhere if ING Direct’s consistently competitive product range is simply absorbed into that offered by Barclays.....Read more here: Bad news for savers? Experts warn Barclays' buyout of ING Direct could limit choice