Competition in Action - Metro bank

Metro Bank opened this morning, the first new high street bank to open in 100 years. It is a fantastic case study on how to compete in a market dominated by a some large banks.

As I am sure you can imagine it would be very difficult for a new entrant into this market to match or even better its competitors rates. Metro have not got great interest rates, however they have looked at how else they can compete with the likes of HSBC and Lloyds. So they are looking at non-price factors to compete. For example when and for how long they open, the bank will be closed on only four days of the year - Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday and Easter Sunday - and will open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm on Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday. It also promises customers it will take just 15 minutes to open an account in one of its branches, including obtaining a credit or debit card, which will be printed in store. The branches will have toilets, free coin-counting machines and, in what is thought to be a nod to its dog-owning financial backer Mr Hill, will allow dogs and provide them with a bowl of water and a bone!

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