It baffles my brains that a bank would even consider buying 632 branches off Lloyds when they don't even have any investment in mobile banking.

They have just made a big investment in the past and Lloyds and Virgin know it.

Not only that, but the bank is a social bank.

Co-operative mission statement...

"We, The Co-operative Bank, will continue to develop our business taking into account the impact our activities have on the environment and society at large."

I am sorry Co-Op, I love the thought of you gaining market share, and a big social bank is two steps forward, but 632 branches over a mobile banking infrastructure is not a very social move for the environment, and four steps back.

I cannot imagine anybody that owned their own business making such a decision.

Our future people DO NOT want to pay with cheques (Just ask your kids)

They DO NOT want cash (Apart from the drug dealers).

They DO want to click on their friends profile in Facebook and pay them some money with a few clicks

They DO want to tap their mobile phone onto a reader and make payments at the same time as seeing their balance without queuing by a whole in the wall.

And yes, they are growing up much more concerned about social issues. 

They would use a social bank if they served them the technology they want.

Instead we have to choose unethical banks because they might invest in the technology our future people want rather than expanding their branches.

If you want to serve the past then you are going in the right direction and your market share will get smaller and smaller and smaller as your costs go higher and higher and higher.

Anybody that gets upset by this, is a smaller and smaller and smaller group of people that are scared of technology.