Northern Rock may still struggle to get customers

Despite its recent nationalisation Northern Rock, which found itself at the centre of a crisis sparked by the credit crunch last year, may still struggle to find customers confident enough to deposit their money in the bank.

Customers withdrew over £2 billion in savings within the space of a few days last year after it was found that the bank had taken an emergency loan from the Bank of England.

Some experts state that the Rock is now a safe place to deposit savings, as it comes with the benefit of government backed schemes and customers also have the government guarantee on the first £35,000 worth of savings.

However, customers still seem to be very wary about placing their money in Northern Rock.

One industry expert said: ‘The wounds of those affected by the Northern Rock crisis – all those that spent days and weeks fretting over whether they still had any savings left – are still pretty fresh, and it is going to take some time to rebuild trust in Northern Rock, even if it has been nationalised.’

One consumer added: ‘The savings rates look good. But I won’t invest with Northern Rock. I’m mildly worried. It might be illogical but I’m still uncertain about Northern Rock. It could be that I don’t really trust the Government and Alistair Darling.’