Lifestyle
Originally published on Tuesday, 19th January 2010
Bank On It
Metro Bank wants your love (and money).
Who else is currently plagued by dreams of Moira Stuart popping out of their closets heralding the apocalyptic 31st January? Thanks to HMRC’s ad, for anyone endeavouring to complete self-assessment tax returns the boogie monster is looking like a comparatively pleasant wardrobe tenant. As if opening a bank statement wasn’t bad enough, now we have to contend with opening cupboards containing ex-BBC newsreaders.
Money is nobody’s topic of choice at this time of year. I deeply resent that I have to pay £12 extra on my monthly bus pass so Boris can fix the defunct tube. I’m still bemused that HSBC’s fraud department assumed a potential Azerbaijani terrorist cell were responsible for the Christmas wrapping paper charges on my credit card. And that Mint card we all thought was so cool in the noughties with its daft curved edge is looking decidedly dog-eared in 2010.
So I’m resting all my hopes on Metro Bank. There’s already a billboard up in Holborn asking you to ‘Love your Bank’. It’ll be the UK’s first start-up bank in more than a century. The brainchild of ex-Commerce Bank CEO Vernon Hill, it promises a boutique experience for customers willing to pay a little extra for personal service, like extra long opening hours, gadgets for fiddlers and a dog-welcome branches.
As long as I don’t find the bank manager bunking in my cupboard, I’m in. As for my love, that can’t be bought. After all, things aren’t quite that bad. Yet.
INFO
Metro Bank launches early 2010.