Tesco Bank has announced that its current account range will finally launch in 2014, adding further competition to the market.
The bank’s chief executive, Benny Higgins, said the bank was “making excellent progress” towards the launch of its current account and should begin a test period early in the New Year.
A number of technical difficulties have caused several major delays to the launch of the bank’s current accounts.
But with several major banks facing another round of scandal, including Lloyds’ £28 million record fine for mis-selling tactics, Tesco is now looking to make an immediate impact in the marketplace.
The launch of a new seven-day current account switching system in September has also made it easier than ever for consumers to switch banks, and figures suggest that the new system is gathering momentum.
Extra for Consumers (and Jobs!)
Tesco’s new current accounts have been designed to meet the demands of the supermarket’s customers, Mr Higgins said, and will offer “simplicity, transparency, convenience and the need for loyalty to be rewarded”.
He added that the bank would be targeting the supermarket’s huge customer base, which includes 16 million Clubcard holders, rather than customers from other banks.
The launch will also see the creation of 300 jobs in Edinburgh and Glasgow, adding to its 4,000-strong workforce across the two cities and in Newcastle.
The bank already offers a comprehensive range of personal finance products, including savings accounts, credit cards, insurance, loans and mortgages.
But Mr Higgins described the current account as “the last brick in the wall of becoming a real bank”.
Tesco bought its banking operation outright from the Royal Bank of Scotland five years ago, which recently admitted decades of underinvestment in its IT systems after suffering a fourth glitch in less than 18 months.
And Mr Higgins insisted that the current accounts would not be launched until existing customers had been moved to a new computer system.
But there would be an emphasis on online account management, he said, rather than opening an extensive branch network.
Would you be tempted to switch to Tesco? If you’re a regular Tesco shopper, what rewards would you like to see from its new current account? Leave us a comment and let us know.
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