Tesco is to install private consul-tation rooms in its banks as it prepares to open 30 branches in stores by the end of this year.
The grocer will have representatives at its banks to talk customers through finance offers. A spokeswoman said the consultation rooms will “give customers privacy” as they discuss offers.
Tesco will open bank branches in Blackpool, Bristol and Coventry this month, following the trial of a banking and insurance centre at its Silverburn store in Glasgow. The bank branches are likely to be called Tesco Bank.
The move comes in the wake of turmoil in the traditional banking system and as consumers lose confidence in banks. Tesco Bank is expected to take an old-fashioned and conservative approach.
The venture is spearheaded by Tesco chief executive of retailing services Andy Higginson. The grocer took full control of Tesco Personal Finance, which launched in 1997, at the end of last year.
Tesco Personal Finance already has 28 products and it plans to more than double profits at its Retailing Services division from about £400m to £1bn. It is expected to launch current accounts in about two years and mortgages could follow.
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