Retail Banking: the Second Tier

Throughout this chapter we shall be focusing upon the strategies of selected Second Tier players (see Table 3.1) — particularly the Bank of Scotland, the TSB, Citibank Savings and Coutts & Co. During the last decade members of the Second Tier (with the exception of Coutts) have been raising their profiles, exploiting market opportunities and flexing their muscles with such determination and aggression, that the Big Four can no longer dismiss them passively as benign and harmless. Having acquired substantial assets, experience and expertise, together with significant customer bases, several of the Second Tier players are, from the Big Four’s perspective, strategically well-positioned to launch potentially damaging campaigns.