Nationwide to buy Virgin Money

High street lender Virgin Money has agreed a £2.9 billion proposed takeover by Nationwide Building Society.

The deal would create the second largest mortgage and savings group within the UK, behind Lloyds Bank. The deal doesn’t need the approval of Nationwide's mutual members but it does need to be backed by Virgin shareholders.

 If the deal goes ahead, Nationwide has commented that the Virgin Money brand will be phased out over six years, once the proposed takeover is completed.

Currently, Virgin Money is the UK’s sixth largest retail bank and it has around 6.6 million customers.  Nationwide is the UK’s biggest building society with nearly 18 million customers. In combining the two, it would create a group with 696 branches.

Regarding branches, Nationwide said that it would keep a branch where the two businesses are present in each location until the beginning of 2026.

It also said it gradually wants to integrate employees of both banks together.

 What does the takeover mean for Nationwide and Virgin Money customers?

 At the moment, nothing. Virgin Money customers won’t automatically become members of Nationwide, and most savers and borrowers won't see any changes for quite some time if the deal goes ahead.

All customers will be able to access and use products and services within Nationwide and Virgin Money as usual.

If the deal does go ahead, there might be some changes later down the line- but it's important to note that Nationwide has said that full integration wouldn't happen until 2026.