Virgin Money has opened its first 'store' - a refurbished Northern Rock branch - in Guildford, Surrey as it prepares to take on Britain's high street old-guard.
Virgin agreed a deal to acquire bailed out Northern Rock from the UK government for £747 million last year, creating a new high street bank boasting four million customers and 75 branches.
It has now opened the first rebranded branch with free use of WiFi, iPads and iMacs and a "no hard sell" policy.
The 'stores' complement three 'lounges' Virgin Money has opened in Edinburgh, Manchester and Norwich, featuring children's areas and free refreshments.
The decision to eschew the use of 'bank' and 'branch' and avoid their toxic connotations comes after Virgin boss Richard Branson asked for feedback on Twitter in November.
However, the bearded one appears to realise that he can't completely get away from the 'b' word, tweeting today:
Branson isn't the only one trying to cash in on public anger with banks. Supermarket giant Asda revamped its personal finance unit today, joining fellow retailers Tesco and Marks & Spencer in an assault on the market being encouraged by politicians.