Virgin Money (brand)

{{Main|Virgin Money Australia}}

Virgin Money currently has operations in Australia with 150,000 customers and is owned by Bank of Queensland.

File:Virgin Money, Briggate, Leeds (6th April 2015).JPG.]]

{{Main|Virgin Money UK}}

Virgin Money currently has operations in the United Kingdom. The company was initially established as a personal finance company under the name of Virgin Direct in 1995, and the Virgin Money brand itself was introduced in 2000. Virgin Money vastly increased its size and customer base in 2012 with the purchase of the so-called 'good bank' portion of the nationalised Northern Rock bank.

In 2018, the entire UK operation of Virgin Money was sold to CYBG plc in a £1.7bn all-share deal which made the group the sixth-largest bank in the UK.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44517752|title=Virgin Money bought by CYBG for £1.7bn|publisher=BBC News|date=18 June 2018}} On 31 October 2019 CYBG plc changed its name to Virgin Money UK plc.{{Cite web|last=Atkin|first=Joanne|date=2019-10-31|title=Virgin Money rebrand to start as CYBG acquisition completes|url=https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/market-news/company-news/virgin-money-rebrand-start-cybg-acquisition-completes-31-10-2019/|access-date=2021-07-22|website=Mortgage Finance Gazette|language=en}}

On 7 March 2024 Nationwide Building Society, the UK's largest building society, announced that they had made an offer to buy Virgin Money UK plc for £2.9 billion.{{cite news |title=Nationwide strikes deal to buy Virgin Money for £2.9bn |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68499145 |access-date=9 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=7 March 2024}} Under the terms of the deal the resulting company would be rebranded under the Nationwide banner over the next 6 years with the Virgin Money brand eventually disappearing. Nationwide intends to remain as a building society and for the "medium-term" the Virgin Money business would remain its own legal entity with its own banking licence. Nationwide aims to not make any material changes to Virgin Money's 7,300 employees "in the near term". Virgin Money's shareholders approved the deal on 21 March and it is expected to complete by the end of the year.{{cite news |title=Buying yon bonnie banks |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-68628838 |access-date=22 March 2024 |work=BBC News |date=21 March 2024}}

{{main|Spot Money}}

Virgin Money had operations in South Africa. In 2006, Virgin Money South Africa launched with a credit card initially in a partnership with ABSA worth $33 million.{{cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/doing_business/businesstoday/businessnews/217361.htm |title=Absa, Virgin in $33m venture – South Africa.info |access-date=2013-05-07 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060420204732/http://www.southafrica.info/doing_business/businesstoday/businessnews/217361.htm |archive-date=20 April 2006 }}

In August 2020, it was announced that the company would be rebranding to Spot Money.{{cite web |title=Richard Branson's Virgin Money is shutting down its SA credit card |url=https://www.businessinsider.co.za/virgin-money-discontinues-its-branded-credit-card-in-south-africa-2020-8 |website=BusinessInsider |access-date=11 May 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Vermeulen |first1=Jan |title=Virgin Money South Africa is now Spot Money – A new open banking platform |url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/technology/379396-virgin-money-south-africa-is-now-spot-money-a-new-open-banking-platform.html |website=MyBroadband |access-date=11 May 2021}}

{{Main|Virgin Money US}}

In 2007, Virgin Money launched in the US after the Virgin Group made a majority stake investment in CircleLending, a company that facilitated peer-to-peer loans.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2007/10/16/circlelending-becomes-virgin-money-usa-gets-makeover-and-millions-in-funding/ |title=CircleLending Becomes Virgin Money USA; Gets Makeover and Millions in Funding |date=16 October 2007 |access-date=12 February 2010 |publisher=TechCrunch}} Virgin Money USA entered into dissolution on 1 November 2010, and is no longer listed as a Virgin property on the Virgin Money home page; the Virgin Money US site itself was also dismantled.{{cite web |url=http://www.virginmoney.com |title=Virgin Money |date=10 November 2010 |access-date=10 November 2010 |publisher=Virgin Money}}{{cite web |url=http://corp.delaware.gov/directweb.shtml |title=Delaware Division of Corporations |date=10 November 2010 |access-date=10 November 2010 |publisher=State of Delaware}}{{cite web |url=http://www.virginmoneyus.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011045938/http://virginmoneyus.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2007 |title=Virgin Money US |date=29 October 2010 |access-date=30 December 2010 |publisher=Virgin Money US }} Virgin Money subsequently withdrew entirely from the US market{{cite web |url=http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/175_230/virgin-money-1029293-1.html |title=Virgin Money Closes Shop in the U.S., Victim of Bad Timing |publisher=American Banker |date=2 December 2010}} and its social lending servicing was transferred to its servicing partner, Graystone Solutions, which continues to service the social loans under its own brand.

File:Virgin Money logo.svg

Virgin Money's logo is focused around the main logo of Virgin Group, which is an underlined word 'Virgin' in a red and magenta gradient coloured circle. This logo was introduced in January 2012 to signify the purchase of Northern Rock, which used a magenta logo. Some versions of the logo use a plain red circle, such as the variant used frequently in South Africa.

Virgin Money's older logo was the word 'Virgin' in a red rounded skew rectangle, similar in shape to a credit card, followed by the word 'Money'. This logo remains in use in South Africa. The previous logo had used a red logo with the word 'Virgin' in a large circle and three smaller circles above the word 'Money'. Virgin Direct's logo had been a more simplistic rendering of the company name, in white on top of a red rectangle with a semicircle attached on the left side.

File:Virgin Money.png|2008–2012

File:Virgin Money.svg|2019–present (UK)

File:Virgin Money logo.svg|2019–present (non-UK)

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://virginmoney.com.au Virgin Money Australia]
• [https://uk.virginmoney.com Virgin Money UK]

{{Virgin Group}}

Category:1995 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:British companies established in 1995

Category:Banks established in 1995

Category:Peer-to-peer lending companies