LONDON — Businessman Richard Branson says he will shake up Britain's retail banking system as his Virgin money group takes control of the nationalized lender Northern Rock.

Branson paid the British government 747 million pounds ($1.1 billion) for the troubled lender last year and said it will keep its 75 branches open for at least three years.

He said the bank would offer easy-to-understand financial products.

Branson visited the first branch to be rebranded as Virgin Money in Newcastle, northern England Monday.

Northern Rock was Britain's first victim of the credit crunch. Fears over its funding in 2007 prompted panicked investors to withdraw their money from the bank, destabilizing it further. The previous government nationalized it in February 2008.