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Girobank

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former British bank
For GiroBank (Denmark 1991–1995), seeDanske Bank.

National Girobank
Company typeStatutory corporation (1968)
Public limited company (1988)
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1968; 57 years ago (1968)
Defunct2003
FatePrivatised
SuccessorAlliance & Leicester
HeadquartersBootle, Merseyside
ProductsPostal giro, retail banking

National Girobank was a British public sector financial institution run by theGeneral Post Office that opened for business in October 1968.[1] It was initially calledNational Giro[2][3] thenNational Girobank and finallyGirobank plc, before being absorbed intoAlliance & Leicester in 2003.[4]

It was the first bank in Europe to adoptOCR (optical character recognition) technology;[5] the first bank to offer interest-bearing current accounts,[4] and the first in Europe to offertelephone banking.

History

[edit]

Background

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In 1959, theRadcliffe Committee set up to investigate the "Working of the Monetary System in the United Kingdom" recommended the introduction of agiro system, and said that if the main banks did not do this, the possibility of the Post Office introducing it should be investigated.[6][7]

Planning for the National Giro

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In 1965 a white paper "A Post Office Giro" was published, outlining a system which would use post offices as its business outlets, with automated central processing of transactions.[6]

By September 1965, a central site was chosen atBootle in Lancashire.[6] The Post Office bought land on the site ofsidings of theNorth Mersey Branch railway. It also built a large, purpose built office anddata processing complex for the site, completed in March 1968.[6] The National Giro was the first financial institution in Europe, and probably the world, to be established from the outset to be fully computerised.[8]

Operations

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The early years of National Giro were unprofitable.[7] In 1969 National Giro partnered with theMercantile Loan Company to provide loans to account holders, which was a significant stimulation of account growth.[8][9] When aConservative government came to power in 1970, there were pressures on the government to close the still loss-making operation.[8][9] The government, with the advice of consultantsCooper Brothers, gave its approval to a continuation plan. However, charges were doubled for the majority of customers, the 'same day' service was changed to a 'next day' service, and staffing was reduced from 3,500 to 3,000.[8][9]

By the late 1980s, Girobank was Britain's sixth largest bank.[1]

Privatisation and beyond

[edit]
The Bootle office after privatisation, bearing the Alliance & Leicester logo

TheAlliance & Leicester won a bidding process for the Girobank operation in 1989 after theConservative governmentprivatised the bank, as part of a programme ofsales of state-owned businesses. The transaction was completed in 1990 and by this time the bank was essentially indistinguishable from its competitors, apart from its use of post offices to transact cash business. The contract with the Post Office was to continue to be an exclusive one for a fixed period after privatisation. After privatisation, the bank expanded and opened a £9.5 million operations centre inWigan.[10]

The personal banking business of Girobank became part of the Alliance & Leicester Building Society. The Business Banking arm continued to use the Girobank name as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alliance and Leicester, repositioned as a cash handler and credit card processor for retailers and other banks.[11][4] In 2003 the Girobank brand was dropped, with the business renamed Alliance & Leicester[4] following further consolidation in the Alliance & Leicester group. In May 2010, Alliance & Leicester was acquired byGrupo Santander and the Alliance & Leicester brand was replaced bySantander UK.

The Girobank wording continued in use on some credit slips intended for paying bills, along with the Alliance & Leicester "plus" logo. Some councils were continuing to use the original name "Post Office Giro" in 2011.[12][13][14]

In March 2009, a campaign was launched to bring back Girobank. Backers included MPs, trade unions and small businesses.[15]

Successors

[edit]

Post Office Limited now provides cash services to many banks on a commercial basis.[citation needed] In April 2013, the Post Office announced it would be launching a retail banking service accessible through Post Office branches under thePost Office Money brand,[16] now run by theBank of Ireland.

References

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  1. ^abBusiness and Enterprise Committee (23 June 2009)."Post Offices - Securing their Future: Annex A - The development of the post office network". UK Parliament. Retrieved13 April 2014.{{cite web}}:|author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^Post Office (Giro System).Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) (Report). Vol. 673. 4 March 1963. pp. 165–74. Retrieved25 June 2016.
  3. ^National Giro Service.Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) (Report). Vol. 770. 17 October 1968. p. 163.
  4. ^abcdCollinson, Patrick (7 July 2003)."Girobank brand laid to rest after 25 years".The Guardian.
  5. ^Glyn Davies with foreword by James Callaghan (1973).National Giro: modern money transfer. London: Allen and Unwin.ISBN 0-04-332054-6.
  6. ^abcd"The National Giro". National Archives. 2060 - Santander Group Archives. Retrieved27 November 2020.
  7. ^abBillings, Mark; Booth, Alan (26 August 2010).The business of Britain's National Giro, 1968-78: "Socialist euphoria and self-deception"?(PDF) (Report). European Business History Association. Retrieved27 November 2020.
  8. ^abcdBall, Barbara (June 2011)."Post Office: Girobank, Girobank Sale and Privatisation".AIM25. GB 0813 POST 112 Series. Retrieved5 October 2020.
  9. ^abcHardman, N."National Giro the first years". National Archives. GIRO/NG. Retrieved5 October 2020.
  10. ^"18 May 90 UK: Contract – Wigan. Monk to build operations centre for Girobank".Construction News. 17 May 1990. Archived fromthe original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved8 January 2019.
  11. ^Andrew Cave (7 July 2003)."Girobank disappears in A&L brand makeover".The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved12 January 2015.
  12. ^"Paying by Post Office Giro". Archived fromthe original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved1 October 2010.
  13. ^"Paying by cheque/postal order/cash/post office giro". Archived fromthe original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved1 October 2010.
  14. ^"Post Office Giro".South Hams District Council. Archived fromthe original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved1 October 2010.
  15. ^"Post Bank Campaign". Federation of Small Businesses. Archived fromthe original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved1 October 2010.
  16. ^Hilary Osborne (13 April 2013)."Post Office to launch 'value for money' current account".The Guardian. Retrieved25 June 2016.
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