Chelsea and Catholic building societies to merge

by Gill Montia

Story link: Chelsea and Catholic building societies to merge

Chelsea Building Society has agreed a merger with Catholic, which boasts only 4,000 members and ranks 57th out of 59th in size among UK building societies.

The move has been prompted by the increased cost of regulation, which has left Catholic keen to be swallowed up by a larger rival.

It has chosen Chelsea as a partner because of the building society’s moral stance, working as it does in debt and homelessness relief via a charitable foundation.

Chelsea has also been up-front about its sub-prime lending, carrying out this side of the business under its own name, rather than operating through a subsidiary.

Following the merger, Chelsea plans to retain the Catholic brand but a final decision will only be made when it is established whether Chelsea can do justice to the name and history of Catholic and the 50% of its members who are of the Catholic faith.

No job losses are expected and under the terms of the merger, Catholic members should receive a windfall payout.

Catholic holds assets of around £44 million.