Metro Bank PLC, perhaps the first new retail bank in the United Kingdom in a century, has agreed to offer MasterCard Inc. credit and debit cards to customers when it opens its doors Thursday.
The Purchase, N.Y., payments company said Metro Bank will be able to give customers payment cards at the time they open their accounts, instead of mailing the cards out several days later.
Metro Bank initially will have two London branches, and plans to open 12 more over the next two years. It eventually hopes to have more than 200 branches.
The banking company was co-founded by Vernon Hill, who founded Commerce Bancorp Inc. of Cherry Hill, N.J., which was sold to Toronto-Dominion Bank in 2008. Metro Bank plans to follow Commerce's well-known model of stressing customer service, and will be open seven days a week.
