Type Public Products Financial services Founded 1985 | Industry Finance and Insurance CEO Sue Fox (Mar 2014–) Headquarters Chester | |
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Key people Denise Holt, Chairman and Non-executive director
Sue Fox, Chief executive Website bank.marksandspencer.com] Parent organizations HSBC Bank, HSBC, Marks and Spencer Retail Financial Services Holdings Limited Profiles | ||
Marks & Spencer Financial Services plc, trading as M&S Bank, is a retail bank operating in the United Kingdom. It was formed as the financial services division of the British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) in 1985, and has been operated by HSBC Bank since it was sold in 2004. The bank launched as St Michael Financial Services in 1985, using Marks & Spencer's main brand at the time. It subsequently operated under the M&S Money brand from 2003 and later adopted the M&S Bank name.
Contents
M&S Bank provides services including current accounts, savings and credit products, as well as insurance.
History
Marks & Spencer launched St Michael Financial Services in 1985, operating its "Chargecard" store card. It was renamed Marks & Spencer Financial Services in 1988, and Marks and Spencer Unit Trust Management was established to provide unit trust funds.
The company introduced the M&S Money brand in 2003, at the time that Marks & Spencer began to introduce its "Your M&S" branding.
In 2004, as part of an effort to reduce costs and return money to shareholders, Marks & Spencer reached an agreement to sell the company to HSBC for £580 million. Under the terms of the sale, it was agreed that M&S and HSBC would share profits from M&S Money until at least 2019.
In 2012, M&S Bank began to open branches within existing Marks & Spencer retail stores.
Services
M&S Bank provides a range of banking, credit and insurance products to personal customers, and operates a number of branches within M&S stores. It also provides internet banking services. As the company is a subsidiary of HSBC, it uses the M&S brand under licence from Marks & Spencer.
M&S Bank is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. It subscribes to the Lending Code.