The first instore bank in the Irish Republic, a joint venture between the Superquinn chain and the Trustee Savings Bank, is closing down at the end of the year with losses of around I£6m. 75 staff will be made redundant.
Tusa was set up two years ago, based on a US supermarket/personal banking model, and operated a seven-days-a-week service through 15 Superquinn outlets. Because of its low cost distribution network, it was able to offer attractive credit card, mortgage and savings rates.
However, chief executive Brian Mahony said the venture failed because it fell victim to "customer inertia". "We wanted to provide a full personal banking service but people just cherry-picked products."
In its two years the bank attracted just 10,000 customers, with 500 taking out mortgages.
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