Until this year, things were looking up for the new generation of banks trying to make their way in Britain's notoriously tough banking market. But the woes of TSB have raised a question mark over their future. The financial crisis massively reduced the choices available to British customers, as weaker banks and building societies were forced to merge with stronger rivals. By 2011, the biggest four banks had more than three-quarters of all current accounts. The answer was to promote the growth of a new generation of smaller, more varied, more competitive institutions giving customers more options for handling their money - and to reduce the risk of too-big-to-fail banks that the government might one day have to rescue again.

So the regulations changed and new names appeared on the High Street, online and, crucially, on mobile phone apps. They are a diverse bunch: some like TSB were spun off from bigger banks, deliberately marketing themselves as ready to take on the old industry "fat cats". Metro Bank opened its seven-day-a-week service in 2010 - the first new independent UK High Street bank in over 100 years. Others, like Wyelands, ClearBank, or Secure Trust Bank offered specialised banking services, while start-ups such as Atom, Tandem or Monzo offered pure digital platforms. Low interest rates, economic growth and a healthy property market were fertile ground for the newcomers.

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