Trustee Savings Bank
The TSB name was previously used by Trustee Savings Bank prior to its merger with Lloyds Bank in 1995,[8] resulting in the formation of Lloyds TSB in 1999.
The merger was structured as a reverse takeover by TSB. Lloyds Bank was delisted from the London Stock Exchange and TSB Group was renamed Lloyds TSB Group in 1995, with former Lloyds Bank shareholders owning a 70% equity interest in the share capital, effected through a scheme of arrangement. The new bank commenced trading in 1999, after the statutory process of integration was completed.[9] The original TSB Bank transferred engagements to Lloyds Bank which then changed its name to Lloyds TSB Bank; at the same time, TSB Bank Scotland absorbed Lloyds' three Scottish branches becoming Lloyds TSB Scotland.
In 1986, the legal entity, Trustee Savings Bank, was renamed TSB Scotland (and, in 1989, TSB Bank Scotland), before becoming Lloyds TSB Scotland in 1999.[10] This company was re-registered under the name TSB Bank in 2013.[11] The parent, TSB Banking Group, was registered in England in 2014 and later that year TSB Bank ceased to be part of the Lloyds Banking Group.[12]
Project Verde
In January 2009 Lloyds TSB Group bought HBOS, the company formed from the merger of Halifax plc and the Bank of Scotland, and renamed itself Lloyds Banking Group.[13] In 2009, following the UK bank rescue package, the Government of the United Kingdom took a 43.4% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, which later announced that it would sell a standalone retail banking business and most accounts held at selected branches in order to comply with European Commission state aid requirements. Codenamed "Verde", the group's divestment plan identified 632 branches - a number of Lloyds TSB branches in England and Wales, together with all branches of Lloyds TSB Scotland and Cheltenham & Gloucester, were brought together to form the new business, which operates under the TSB brand.[4]
Customers with accounts held by the branches and staff employed within them were also transferred.[14]
Agreement with Co-operative Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group reached a heads-of-terms agreement in July 2012 to sell the Verde branches to the Co-operative Bank for £750 million.[17][18] The final transfer of TSB Bank to the new owner was planned to be completed by late 2013. In February 2013, it was reported that Lloyds Banking Group was considering a stock market flotation of the TSB business as an alternative, should the transfer not be completed, and they would make a final decision by the end of July. The Co-operative Banking Group blamed current economic conditions for delays in completing the deal and had sold its life insurance assets for £200 million in an effort to secure £1 billion needed to complete the deal.[19][20]
In April 2013, The Co-operative Group announced that it would not proceed with the transaction, citing the economic environment and increasing regulatory requirements in the financial sector.[21]
Initial public offering
TSB Bank plc began operating as a separate business within Lloyds Banking Group on 9 September 2013,[22] with the intention of selling it off through an initial public offering.[23] Lloyds Banking Group announced that 25% of TSB's shares would be floated on 24 June 2014,[24] but, with the offer being ten-times oversubscribed, 38.5% of shares in TSB Banking Group, were sold at 260p on 20 June.[25] Unconditional trading in the shares started on 25 June 2014. A further 11.5% of TSB Banking Group shares were sold by Lloyds Banking Group in September 2014, bringing its share holding down to 50%.[26]
According to Lloyds' chief executive, António Horta-Osório, the separation cost £1 billion more to perform than the new bank is worth.[27]
Acquisition by Sabadell Group
On 12 March 2015, TSB confirmed a takeover bid by Sabadell for £1.7 billion, less than a year after it rejoined the stock market through Lloyds Banking Group's sale of 50% of its holding.[28] TSB agreed to the takeover on 20 March 2015 [29] which was completed on 8 July 2015.[6] After the acquisition, a new board of directors was formed, including Tomás Varela and Miguel Montes Güell.[30]
In October 2015, Sabadell Group outlined its plans for TSB to continue as a competitor in the UK banking sector, by further expanding into the small business banking market, and introducing cardless emergency cash and mobile payments.[31] Sabadell also confirmed that the TSB name would be retained, as the group felt it was a "very powerful" brand with "traction" in the UK, unlike the parent brand, which is "virtually unknown".
A planned migration of customer records from the Lloyds Banking Group platform to the Sabadell Proteo platform commencing on 20 April 2018 resulted in the loss of internet and mobile banking services for many customers for at least a week. Additionally, some customers reported seeing detailed account information of other customers, including balances of accounts other than their own.[34]
On 26 April 2018, Paul Pester, then chief executive, stated that TSB was "on its knees" with the bank's computers continuing to have "a capacity issue" that was preventing about one million customers having access to online banking services.[35]
Two weeks after commencement of the migration, failures were still being reported with services such as the online banking application giving internal SQL database-related errors. Payment difficulties, particularly with business and mortgage accounts continued into a fourth week[36] and it was revealed that TSB had rejected an offer of assistance from Lloyds Banking Group at the start of the migration crisis. The bank later announced it had hired IBM to help fix the problems.[37]
Proposed takeover by Santander
On 1 July 2025, it was announced that Sabadell had agreed to sell TSB to Spanish rival Santander for £2.65 billion. The sale was expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval. Sabadell shareholders approved the sale on 6 August 2025.[7][46]
