Tesco Set To Take On The High Street Banks
In a move which has surprised many in the financial markets, Tesco has acquired the remaining 50% share of its joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for £950 million. This now gives Tesco full control of the venture and releases the company from an array of competition clauses against RBS. The joint venture has been one of the more successful on the high street having started over a decade ago.
The operation has an impressive 7 million customers, offers an array of financial services and has access to 2,000 ATMs throughout the UK. It provides a very interesting base for Tesco to try and push itself into the top league of the financial industry but it is also fraught with danger. Domination of the supermarket sector has not been easy for Tesco but an attempt to push aside banks which have histories going back hundreds of years will be a little trickier.
It will be interesting to see how the venture progresses and whether Tesco can impose itself as well as it has done on the supermarket and other leading consumer sectors. But if the directors at Tesco think they will have it all their own way, they may well be in for a shock.
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