Tesco vs the banks is like Darth Vader taking on the Daleks

UK supermarket chain Tesco opened its new banking headquarters in Edinburgh yesterday.

The retailer is looking to cash in on consumer disenchantment with crisis-stricken traditional banks. Chief executive Terry Leahy is promising a return to old-fashioned, conservative values for customers who park their finances with Tesco Personal Finance.

The timing couldn't be better. Consumer mistrust of traditional banks is at an all-time-high, margins are fabulous, and Tesco will be able to tap into a skilled workforce in the Scottish capital as it grows its business.

Commentators have respondend favourably. The big retailers know their customers and their arrival in banking is expected to expand choice and inject some fresh ideas and much-needed competition into a moribund market.

But - from a consumer perspective - the giant supermarket chains engender as much loathing and despair in the general populace as do the banks and our grasping politicians. From their heavy-handed treatment of suppliers, to their cynical abuse of 'Known Value' pricing tactics, the supermarkets are as much maligned as the banks they are hoping to displace.

Last week I went to vote in the European elections. There were some new names on the list - like the wretched BNP and UKIP - but nobody who I felt I could trust to truly represent my interests in Parliament. It wasn't a happy experience. I feel much the same way about choosing my bank - and the addition of the rapacious supermarkets to the mix doesn't really make me feel any better.