– New customers are pouring in here. We have rarely noticed such commitment in the past, says director Simen Eilertsen at Bulder bank. DNB announced this week that Sbanken’s online bank will be closed on 27 March and replaced by an app. Subsequently, several other banks have noticed a large influx of customers who want to switch banks. Eilertsen says that Bulder has created 1,500 savings accounts for new customers in the last two days. – Our progress can be compared to when the acquisition was first announced. This is one of the biggest waves we have seen, says Eilertsen. Sbanken was acquired by DNB in April 2022. The debate surrounding the acquisition has raged both before and since. Photo: NTB It has been two days since DNB shared the changes with its customers, but several banks report a large increase after several media mentioned the news today. It was E24 that first mentioned the case on Thursday. – The customers tell us that they are disappointed by what they perceive as a breach of promise by DNB/Sbanken, but are happy that there are good alternatives, says Eilertsen. Obos had to warn about large influx After several media mentioned the news on Thursday, Obos has also experienced a large influx of people who want to change banks. – There is a strong influx of customers, says communications director Thomas Skjennald at Obos. 356 customers have contacted Obosbanken’s customer service 20 minutes before closing time. – On a normally hectic day, we have around 200 callers, says Skjennald. He states that the customer inquiries are largely about banking. – That this may have a connection with DNB’s announcement today to close down Sbanken’s online banking, I do not ignore. Earlier on Thursday, Obosbanken had a warning on its website that there was a lot of traffic at the customer centre. This message was received by customers who visited Obosbanken’s website around 2pm on Thursday. Photo: Skjermdump / news – We had to put it on, so people wouldn’t get annoyed if it took a little extra time, says the communications director. Skjennald also says that Obosbanken has seen a 50 per cent increase in inquiries in the online bank. – These are typically customers who may already have a customer relationship with us, but who ask to expand it, for example by moving a salary account. Clear pressure at Nordea Nordea is also experiencing increased customer service activity on Thursday. – We haven’t had time to count the number of inquiries yet, but we notice a clear increase in inquiries at customer service today, says communications advisor Anja Lohne Holm at Nordea. She says that the inquiries that came in today mostly concern conditions for changing banks. She also says that many of the customers are interested in Nordea offering solutions for Apple Pay. The Sbanken customers lost the opportunity to use Apple’s payment solution when they were transferred to DNB. – They wonder what we have to offer and what opportunities come with changing banks. We have a clear impression that this is in connection with the news from DNB today, she says. Holm also states that Nordea has noticed increased pressure from customers after DNB acquired Sbanken in April 2022. DNB rejects customer flight Julia Stelzer Pettersen, communications advisor at DNB and the Sbanken concept, denies that they are experiencing customer flight following today’s news. – But there will certainly be some reactions, we see that in the media too, she says. Excerpt from the notification about Sbanken changes that was sent out to customers on Monday 16 January. Photo: Skjermdump Pettersen emphasizes that Sbanken has had an increase in the number of mortgage customers in the past year, because they offer favorable loan interest rates. – The fact that there will now be a new app from 27 March is a change that is not well received by everyone, and we understand that. Over 90 percent of logins to Sbanken are already through the app, Pettersen points out. – The arrows have pointed in the direction of making the app the hub for the services. Now we are making this change and bringing all services together in one place, she says. Controversy around acquisitions It was in April 2021 that it became known that DNB wanted to buy Sbanken. They received approval to implement this in March 2022, after opposition from both the Norwegian Competition Authority and Sbanken’s own customers. The uproar resulted, among other things, in the creation of the Facebook group “Sbanken kundeflukt”, where there was a lot of talk among the 16,600 members on Thursday. In the open group, there are several customers who are discussing changing banks. – I slowly started using Bulder a few months ago, in the hope that Sbanken would continue much like before. Unfortunately, the worst predictions came true, so now the switch will be completely to Bulder or another competitor who neither directly nor indirectly supports DNB or the “Sbanken concept”, says Bjørn Helge Sandblåst to news and adds: – It seems that they are betting that the customers first become dissatisfied and protest – before it is forgotten when the storm calms down, so that they can get away with it. It’s untidy and then they lose me as a customer.
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– Here it flows in – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
