Queues fade away at Northern Rock branches

Crisis-hit bank Northern Rock said today there had been a sharp fall in the number of people withdrawing money from the group.

The UK-based lender said that at 10am today there were short queues outside just four of its 76 branches, in marked contrast to the long queues seen in recent days.

At the same time, it said its call centres were receiving just 9% of the volume of calls they were getting yesterday, with 80% of the people contacting the bank wanting to reinvest their money.

The group said that by 10.30am today it had received only 3,472 telephone calls, compared with 36,894 by the same time on Monday.

Half as many people are now going online to access internet accounts as on Monday and most people are now able to log on at their first attempt, it said.

The group is also trying to tempt customers back by promising to refund any account charges or transfer fees people incurred as a result of withdrawing money because of the crisis if they reinvest it in the same type of account by October 5.

The turnaround comes after the British government last night said it would guarantee people’s savings in Northern Rock.

The bank has not said how much money has been withdrawn since it first sparked panic among its customers by saying it had agreed emergency funding with the Bank of England, but analysts have estimated it could be as much as £3bn (€4.3bn).

Northern Rock sought to reassure its customers today by taking out full-page advertisements in various national newspapers in which chief executive Adam Applegarth said the company was “open for business as usual”.

He wrote: “May I begin by offering our customers my sincere apologies for the anxiety and inconvenience that we have caused you. I know how worried many of you must have been.

“Today I want to make it emphatically clear to all Northern Rock customers that we are open for business as usual.

“We remain a well-managed company and continue to be a safe place for your savings, loans and mortgages.”