TSB Celebrates Opening of New City of London Flagship Branch

TSB today celebrates the opening of its new and modern City of London flagship branch, which is located on one of London’s busiest high streets, at 55 Bow Bells House, Cheapside.  TSB marked the special occasion with a ribbon cutting event attended by Sir Roger Gifford, local Alderman, and Alexander Barr, Common Councilman for Cordwainer Ward in the City of London.

Branch transformation

The contemporary TSB branch design combines an open-plan layout with a mix of self-service banking options and tailored support from expert TSB Partners. The branch transformation is a step on from Partners handling traditional transactions to focus on more meaningful, open customer conversations and changing branch service into an even better experience for customers.

• Customers at the heart – with an open space and counter-less style the whole branch is set up for dedicated face-to-face conversations, that puts customers at the heart of the TSB service.
• New and improved technology – there is a Money Talk table for customers who prefer self-serve options to apply for products online. Complimentary wi-fi is available and customers with their own devices can carry out their internet banking, or alternatively, for those who don’t have their own, there are six accessible iPads to use. There are two external ATMs, one internal ATM and two internal immediate deposit machines that accept notes and cheques.
• Facilities – a wheelchair easy-access private meeting room is to hand offering a special type of sound system for people with hearing aids.
• Opening longer – there are extended opening hours to accommodate customers who may not have the flexibility to visit their local branch during traditional office hours, particularly the working City community.

Throughout the day, there has been a festival atmosphere with TSB Partners, local supplier food stalls, St Mary-le-Bow Church music academy, ProVoc A cappella group, Bow Bells Shoeshine, local charity London Air Ambulance and a digital caricaturist busy entertaining and welcoming everyone. Free goody bags were also up for grabs and the chance to enter a prize draw to win a luxury weekend for two in a boutique hotel.

Barry Smith, Bank Manager at TSB Cheapside, said: “The team and I are really excited about unveiling the new TSB branch on Cheapside, its modern-day design helps us to provide an even better banking experience customers want and deserve, whether that’s more face-to-face conversations or self-serve technology.

On opening the branch Sir Roger Gifford, local Alderman, said: “It’s really good to be here today to declare officially TSB’s brand new flagship branch on Cheapside “Open!”.  The local area around Bow Lane and this area called Cordwainer is a very vibrant and historic part of the City of London, and it gives me great pleasure to welcome the Bank into the community.

Alex Barr, Common Councilman for Cordwainer Ward, City of London, said: “I am delighted to welcome TSB, a well-known and much loved highstreet banking brand, into our thriving community. TSB’s approach to community engagement augers well for building quick and successful local relationships with our many small independent retailers, large financial service employers and residents. My civic colleagues and I look forward to working with TSB.

Fraud awareness

On 22 October 2019, the branch will host its first workshop called Fraud Awareness, aiming to raise awareness among customers of how fraudsters operate, including the latest tricks and scams and, more importantly, how to avoid them.

The initiative comes at a time when fraud is becoming more elaborate, more sophisticated and more plausible. The latest figures show that in the first half of 2019, losses due to unauthorised financial fraud on payment cards, remote banking and cheques rose two per cent, to £408.3 million, and a total of £207.5 million was lost to authorised push payment scams^[1]. But, TSB is fighting back, in April TSB became the first bank to commit to a Fraud Refund Guarantee, ensuring its customers are protected if they become an innocent victim of fraud, whether it’s unauthorised transactions on their accounts or customers tricked into authorising payments to fraudsters.

Customers are welcome to pop into the Cheapside branch to find out more information on attending the workshop.