Shropshire customers braced for big Lloyds TSB shake-up

From Monday, all Lloyds TSB branches will begin to be rebranded as either Lloyds Bank or TSB.

All the country's 631 TSB branches will be badged up and ready to go by next Wednesday, and 4.6 million customers will find themselves placed with one or the other.

The current group's chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio has promised a "seamless" transition from one to the other.

Customers in the nine new TSB branches in or on the border of Shropshire will certainly be hoping that will be the case.

TSB will comprise all the 164 branches of what is now Cheltenham & Gloucester, plus a further 282 Lloyds TSB branches, and all the 185 Lloyds TSB Scotland outlets.

Branches in Church Stretton, Ellesmere, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Telford, Wellington and Whitchurch will transfer over, as will others in Albrighton near Telford and Teme Street in Tenbury Wells.

Meanwhile, three others in Shrewsbury, and those in Donnington, Shifnal, Madeley, Broseley, Newport, Market Drayton, Malpas, Welshpool, Newtown, Bridgnorth, Cleobury Mortimer, Ludlow, Llandrindod Wells and Leominster will be converted into branches of Lloyds Bank.

It comes after a plan to sell the branches to the Co-op fell through earlier this year.

It will see TSB floated on the stock market as a separate entity from next summer.

One effect will be to clean up the image of the bank, and comes after a lengthy effort to offload the branches.

Lloyds spokesman Julie Chapman said: "We're helping to create a new bank in the UK, thereby bringing more competition and customer choice to the high street.

"With over 630 branches on the high street, TSB will be the eighth largest bank by branch network size, just after Halifax, and twice the size of the RBS network.

"The staff in branches that are transferring to TSB will stay with that branch.

" So they'll continue to provide customers with the same level of service, in the same place, just under new ownership."

Customers' account numbers will remain the same, as will products and services – for the moment at least, say the bank's bosses. However, people who use the bank's online services will need to log into different websites from Sunday night.

TSB customers will have to log in at TSB.com, and those staying with Lloyds will continue to use lloydstsb.com until that is rebranded later on.

Relocated users of Lloyds' mobile app will also need to download TSB's app.

That is expected to appear next week, and customers will no longer be able to access the existing app from Sunday night. If customers want to, they will be able to close their account with TSB and return to Lloyds.

The newly rebranded TSB branches in Shropshire will hold individual launch events throughout the day on Monday.

Special guests have been invited to carry out ribbon cutting ceremonies .

The guests include local mayors and, in Ellesmere, a 90-year-old customer who first started banking with TSB more than 60 years ago.

What the future holds for local branches:

Becoming TSB branches

• High Street, Shrewsbury

• Town Centre, Telford

• Walker Street, Wellington

• High Street, Albrighton

• Watergate Street, Whitchurch

• The Square, Ellesmere

• Church Street, Oswestry

• High Street, Church Stretton

• Teme Street, Tenbury Wells

Staying as Lloyds

• Pride Hill, Shrewsbury

• Mount Pleasant Road, Shrewsbury

• Harlescott Lane, Shrewsbury

• Wrekin Drive, Donnington

• Park Street, Shifnal

• High Street, Madeley

• High Street, Broseley

• High Street, Newport

• Cheshire Street, Market Drayton

• Church Street, Malpas

• Broad Street, Welshpool

• High Street, Newtown

• High Street, Bridgnorth

• High Street, Cleobury Mortimer

• Broad Street, Ludlow

• Middleton Street, Llandrindod Wells

• Corn Square, Leominster