Marks & Spencer is considering opening banks in 55 stores, it has been reported.

The bank branches would be opened in partnership with HSBC, the finance firm which bought Marks & Spencer’s M&S Money business for £762m in 2004, according to the Bloomberg news wire.

Plans are at an early stage but a person with knowledge of the matter said Marks & Spencer customers could have access to the in-store banking services by 2012.

Marks & Spencer still receives half of profit after costs from M&S Money – in the last financial year the retailer’s share of earnings was £30.4m.

A Marks & Spencer spokeswoman declined to comment.

Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose, who leaves the retailer next month, has previously flagged the potential of the M&S name as an “umbrella brand” for various services and speculated that as the internet accounts for a growing proportion of sales, space in stores could be devoted to purposes other than retailing.

Topics