Britain | Metrospective

Why a British challenger bank got into trouble

And what Metro Bank’s narrow escape means for competition

Pedestrians walk past a Metro Bank in Cardiff, a city in Wales
Image: Getty Images

John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, once joked that a sound banker was not one who managed to succeed in an unconventional manner, but one who failed when pursuing the same strategy as everyone else. At least that way no one could really blame him. Metro Bank, a high-street bank, has just come perilously close to the unsoundest thing of all—failing while doing something different.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Metrospective”

From the October 14th 2023 edition

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