The future of jobs at a bank’s customer service departments is uncertain amid fears they may be outsourced abroad.
Vanquis Banking Group, which has a large centre at Chatham Maritime, is taking steps to transfer employees’ roles to call centre companies in South Africa.
As part of the revised operation, there may be some redundancies, a spokesman has confirmed. The number of roles at risk has not been confirmed.
Vanquis, formerly known as Provident Financial, has also announced more than 90 new positions at its sites in Chatham, Bradford and Petersfield.
The company has already confirmed the transfer of about 180 jobs at its headquarters in Bradford to its operational strategic partners Teleperformance and Sigma, which have offices in Cape Town.
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The move, thought to be a cost-cutting exercise, has proved unpopular with some of the workforce who, while able to work remotely, do not want to work for firms based in South Africa.
Those affected in West Yorkshire are being represented by the Equality for Workers Union.
A statement from the bank said: “Vanquis Banking Group has started consultation with some operational employees about a potential TUPE transfer of roles to Teleperformance, Sigma and Huntswood, who are our operational strategic partners.
“As part of the changes announced, it has also started consultations about the removal of some roles, which could result in redundancy.
“If the proposed changes go ahead, operations will be mainly based in the UK and South Africa, as is the case now, with a large number of skilled roles within operations being based in the UK.
“The proposed changes will continue to ensure we serve our customers quickly and efficiently, with the UK and South Africa sites being customer service centres of excellence.”
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Mizan Muqit, co-founder and general secretary of the independent EFWU, said when the situation arose in West Yorkshire, 90% of his members opted for redundancy rather than transfer over.
He said there was significant job availability at call centres in the north.
He was contacting his representatives in Bradford who are talking to their colleagues in Chatham.
The Chatham centre at Pembroke Court, which shares the site of the University of Kent and the University of Greenwich, opened in 2008.
It primarily services customers with a sub-prime credit history who have been declined for credit from mainstream lenders.
