Nationwide takeover of Virgin Money

[BBbetter]

There are so many cards out there that offer fee-free fx payments.
Not sure it’s worth chasing a dedicated account that gives you a better third decimal number on the fx rate, unless you are spending upwards of 50k a year abroad.
I understand the credit card aspect for protection, but if you need a debit card for occasional leisure travel, a wise / starling / Monzo wouldn’t leave you significantly worse off.

[Harrier25]

It’s not just the free FX though, it’s the VA points you accumulate too which makes the VA cards much more valuable when used across Europe than other FX free cards.

[Super Secret Stuff]

Harrier25 wrote:

From what I’ve seen so far, Nationwide are interested in the mortgage & savings books, so may even sell on the credit card business.

I honestly don’t get why they’re buying VM. The credit cards are a key party of there business and part of their success lies in the legal structure of the companies and aligned interests. It’ll end up being run into the ground I think

[Robm]

Business banking products are a large part of it. As well as increasing the overall size. Nationwide also had a large amount of cash to use.

I don’t believe the the Virgin credit card business was a significant reason for the move.

[JDB]

It’s attractive to Nationwide as a way to grow their business inorganically with a rather different customer base and if the transaction goes ahead they are only paying about half book value for a business that has readily addressable excess expenses both in the cost of licensing the Virgin brand and the lack of scale. The concept of Virgin Money being a real challenger bank just hasn’t happened and the hybrid model doesn’t look right in the current market.

I doubt the credit cards were much of a consideration and the Virgin Atlantic cards probably aren’t a very attractive proposition except for the Virgin airline and/or group.

[Harrier25]

Super Secret Stuff wrote:

Harrier25 wrote:

From what I’ve seen so far, Nationwide are interested in the mortgage & savings books, so may even sell on the credit card business.

I honestly don’t get why they’re buying VM. The credit cards are a key party of there business and part of their success lies in the legal structure of the companies and aligned interests. It’ll end up being run into the ground I think

Virgin Money is the 6th largest mortgage lender in the UK. Buying that mortgage book puts Nationwide in 2nd place behind Halifax, that’s why they want to buy. It has nothing to do with the credit card portfolio, which Nationwide will probably offload at the first opportunity.

[Super Secret Stuff]

Oh starting to make sense thanks everyone. I’ve always been happy with nationwide so hope that continues