The Nationwide Building Society has said it will merge with two of its smaller rivals, the Derbyshire and Cheshire Building Societies.
The Nationwide, the UK's biggest mutual lender with 14 million members, is to step in to support the two firms with the approval of financial regulators.
Smaller lenders are under increasing financial strain due to the credit squeeze and rising mortgage defaults.
Members of the two smaller firms will not get any bonus payments.
The deals are expected to be completed by the end of the year subject to approval by the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading.
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