In 1950 Midland bank combined its two Scottish operations to form Clydesdale and North of Scotland Bank. This title was used until 1963 when the name reverted to Clydesdale Bank. In 1987 Midland sold Clydesdale to National Australia Bank Group who still own it. By then the Clydesdale was the smallest of the three Scottish banks.
Glasgow's only other indigenous bank, the Union Bank of Scotland, disappeared in 1955 when it was taken over by Bank of Scotland. And further erosion of Glasgow's banks occurred when the savings bank movement began to merge, first into regional and then into national units with a new commercial banking ethos. TSB Scotland was run from Edinburgh.
This was a period of great competitiveness in financial services. Beginning in the 1950s the banks and insurance companies became more aggressive in their marketing and, aided by computerisation, they were able to enlarge their businesses and develop new products. Although much of this development stemmed from London and Edinburgh the city of Glasgow benefited because it was a source of good office accommodation and a high quality workforce. This was especially so of the growth of call centres as a delivery channel for financial services.
Glasgow was changing and banking was changing too and this was especially visible with the closure of many prominent city centre bank offices, several of which found new life as pubs and restaurants.
Despite this, employment in financial services grew quickly in the 1990s. In 2002 a large area of office development on the north bank of the River Clyde was designated as Glasgow’s financial services district.