Do you think that people will be going into bank branches in ten years? If you do not, Metro Bank will not be the investment for you when its shares come to the market, possibly in a £1 billion spring flotation.
The first new lender to be given a banking licence in 100 years, Metro has made muscular progress since it launched in 2010. When it threw open its doors, customers were queueing down the street to move from their old bank.
Metro has gathered a convincing number of customer deposits over the past five years. Loans have been trickier, but it appears to have resisted the temptation to ramp up lending by offering at the wrong price or to the wrong people.
It has