Sainsbury’s has sold its banking services to NatWest so it can focus on retail

The grocery retailer will offload services like personal loans, credit cards and retail deposit portfolios to the bank as part of the deal, but will retain “capital light” commission income businesses such as insurance, ATMs and travel money, which it said have a “strong connection” to the core retail business.

Currently, the deal does not include Argos Financial Services, on which the retailer expects to provide an update at a later date. 

In a statement to shareholders this morning (20 June), Sainsbury’s said: “We expect Sainsbury’s Bank to return excess capital of at least £250 million to Sainsbury’s once the phased withdrawal from its Core Banking Business has been completed and the future model for Argos Financial Services is in place. Sainsbury’s intends to return this capital to shareholders.”

The banking business is expected to change hands during the first half of 2025. 

Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said: “I am pleased to be announcing this news today. NatWest’s values and customer focus are a close fit with ours and as one of the UK’s leading banks, NatWest’s scale and financial services expertise will ensure our existing financial services customers continue to be well looked after.

”There will be no immediate change for our bank customers as a result of this announcement. Today’s news means we will focus all our time and resources going forward on growing our core retail business, delivering great quality and value, week in week out.”

NatWest Group CEO Paul Thwaite said:“Following today’s announcement, we look forward to welcoming new customers to NatWest Group, where they will benefit from our expertise and award-winning digital banking offering. This transaction is a great opportunity to accelerate the growth of our retail banking business at attractive returns, in line with our strategic priorities.

”As well as a complementary customer base, the transaction is expected to add scale to our credit card and unsecured personal lending business within existing risk appetite. NatWest Group has a strong track record of successful integration and we are focussed on ensuring a smooth transition for customers.”