The Derbyshire BS will be taken over by the Nationwide Building Society, subject to the approval of the financial regulators. Under the proposals, the Derbyshire BS will continue to operate under the Derbyshire name as a separate trading brand of Nationwide.

The Derbyshire BS approached the Nationwide Building Society to help it survive the fall out from the credit crunch. Following a strategic review, the Derbyshire BS identified that it would make a pre-tax loss of £17m in the first 6 months of 2008, with further losses likely. The Derbyshire BS will become part of the UK's leading Building Society during a time where size and strength are valuable assets. The combined organisation will have almost 15 million members, 1,000 retail outlets, £191bn assets and £122 billion of retail deposits.

The Nationwide Building Society intends to complete the merger as soon as possible. The branch networks of both the Derbyshire BS and Nationwide Building Society will remain. Derbyshire's customers will not be able to access their accounts from Nationwide's branches, call centres and website.

The Cheshire BS also plans to merge with the Nationwide - read the article here.

Are your savings safe?

The takeover of the Derbyshire BS by the Nationwide Building Society should help protect the Derbyshire's savers and borrowers. The Derbyshire BS has stated that the merger is "principally to safeguard the interests of the Derbyshire's members in uncertain times, by enabling them to access the benefits and security of being part of the UK's largest building society."

It's also worth remembering that savers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which covers 100% of the first £50,000 per person, per deposit taking institution.

The Derbyshire BS and Nationwide Building Society are both currently authorised to accept deposits by the FSA. It's not yet known whether the Derbyshire BS will retain a separate banking licence if the takeover with Nationwide Building Society is approved.

More information about the proposed merger can be found on the Derbyshire's questions and answers section of their website.