I had no idea Scottish Widows were a bank

Oh hang on, what's this

Member of Lloyds Banking Group

I have a theory that the Building Societies were better as they were as they were more on the customers side. Once they became banks they were just there to con you by keeping you as a saver on old interest rates etc. (Not that SW was a BS.)

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

I have a theory that the Building Societies were better as they were as they were more on the customers side.

There are still quite a few around, including Nationwide of course. They (along with a few others) protected themselves from "carpetbaggers" cashing in from a switch to bank status by making sure any windfalls from conversion went to charity. It seems to have worked.

Been with Nationwide since I was a kid, a little windfall would have been nice when all that was going on but I think the service is better as it is than it would have been had they become a bank.