Metro Bank launched in 2010, at the time of launch they were the first high street bank to open a tangible bricks and mortar branch in over 150 years, this location in Manchester was met with huge excitement when opening in 2019, mainly down to the fact this was Metro Bank's first location up North.
In terms of appearance, the bank does look good, from the exterior, it is bright, modern and looks more like a casino or office building rather than a bank.
Like most banks in the city, it is located on Market Street, you enter the branch through the street, however, it does make up a part of the Manchester Arndale.
The bank claims they are service focused and like dealing with customers face-to-face, the biggest problem with this is that there are no in-store ATM's, this means you have to queue to do the most basic of activities such as paying in money into your account. Two machines allow you to withdraw money only, they are located just outside the branch inside the Manchester Arndale, but in terms of in-store machines, there is nothing.
It can take a while to get served, they seem to always have lots of staff members around the bank, but half of them just seem to be doing nothing, sitting at tables, staring at a queue that continues to grow.
Opening hours are generally the best out of any branch in the city, although they have cut down drastically since Coronavirus hit, pre-pandemic they were open until 8 pm during the week and they even were open on Sunday's. This was one of the biggest pros of Metro Bank, sadly one that may never return.
3* - It looks good, staff are nice when you can finally get served. Speed of service and lack of in-store machines offering quick and convenient banking are big cons for me. read more
