The transfer of parts of Tesco Bank to the UK arm of Barclays has been approved by a High Court judge amid objections from some customers and pro-Palestine protesters over the “situation in Gaza”.
Tesco Personal Finance (TPF), which trades as Tesco Bank and is a subsidiary of the supermarket group, will transfer its credit card, personal loans, savings and current accounts to Barclays Bank UK (BBUK) on November 1, affecting around 4.1 million accounts.
It comes after a court heard on Thursday from two TPF customers who opposed the scheme, with two others – who are part of pro-Palestine groups – blocked from addressing the court after Mr Justice Edwin Johnson ruled their objections were “not relevant” to whether the transfer should be approved.
At the end of the hearing in London, the judge ruled it was “appropriate to sanction the scheme” despite the “quality of submissions” from those who opposed the plan.
He added that the scheme would “have no adverse effect on any of the customers who are concerned with the transfer”.
Martin Moore KC, for TPF and BBUK, told the court in written submissions that the transfer was agreed in February after Tesco Group deemed its banking operations as “non-core to its principal activities” following a “strategic review”.
The court was told there were 562 “objections” and 75 “complaints” from customers about the scheme, which Mr Moore said is 0.014% of customers and included concerns over service standards, information about the scheme and other matters.
The barrister continued that there were also 2,248 emails received “from persons not customers of TPF” opposing the scheme following an “online campaign”, which he claimed the court could “safely ignore”.
He said that “some customers” claimed “that the transfer should not go ahead, or at least the customer concerned should not be transferred, because of the connection with Barclays’ wider activities and their view of who is responsible for the situation in Gaza”.
He claimed this “is a highly controversial subject and not one justiciable before this court”, and “would not be an appropriate ground on which to refuse to sanction the scheme”.
Abir Awad, who said she banked with Barclays for 35 years before she “extracted” herself from the organisation and opened an account with Tesco Bank, told the court the scheme “eroded” the choice of “ethical” banks and should be refused.
She said: “There is a very plausible likelihood from all the information we have had in recent months that the investments in Barclays in any personal finance and Barclays is involved in the weapons industry that I consider to be unethical and it is my right to decide what I believe to be unethical.”
Caroline Goodwin, part of Wandsworth Friends of Palestine, and Lewis Backon, campaigns officer for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, also asked to address the court.
Ms Goodwin claimed that TPF and BBUK “are misrepresenting the nature of their businesses and business dealings”, and that she was “very disappointed” that TPF was “in contravention of their own human rights policies”.
Mr Backon claimed there is a “strong degree of public interest around Barclays and what it does”, and that the transfer “has an impact on all of us”.
Mr Justice Edwin Johnson refused to allow the pair – neither of whom are TPF or BBUK customers – to explain their objections in full, stating they were “not relevant to the question of whether the scheme should be sanctioned”.
The judge said that while the pair “addressed me with dignity and conviction”, their concerns “belong and are properly the subject of debate in a political arena”, and “do not seem to me to be suitable to be heard in this court”.
Under the approved scheme, BBUK will continue to operate the business under the Tesco Bank brand for at least 10 years and enter into a “long-term, exclusive strategic partnership” with Tesco from next month.
Mr Moore said there would be no “material changes” to product terms and conditions, with around 4,147,206 accounts due to be affected, and while no staff will transfer to BBUK under the scheme, it is anticipated that “approximately 2,523 employees across the UK and India” will eventually move.
TPF will retain its insurance and “money services” businesses, including ATMs, travel money and gift cards.
