Tesco, the supermarket chain, announced the opening of a customer service centre in Central Glasgow with more than 800 jobs in personal finance.
The Scottish government helped the centre with £5 million.
Andrew Higginson, chief executive of Tesco Retailing Services, said: “The opening of the new customer service centre will be a significant step towards Tesco Personal Finance offering a full banking service. It is hard to ignore that people’s trust in the banking sector is at a very low ebb.”
Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, who is scheduled to visit Tesco Personal Finance’s Edinburgh base today, said: “I want to see increased competition in the (banking) system and that’s why Tesco’s announcement today is important.
“We do need more competition in the system. The last couple of years has seen a significant reduction in the number of people, both from abroad and British-based banks, who are lending into the market.
“We need more competition and that’s something that we intend to encourage.”
