Tesco's ambition to build a full service banking operation has suffered a setback after the Financial Services Authority delayed giving the supermarket clearance to offer mortgages, according to the Observer.
The supermarket re-branded its personal finance unit to Tesco Bank last October and has laid out plans to extend the business from a collection of disparate products to that of a full-service retail bank.
At the centre of this strategy was the planned introduction of mortgages by the end of the year, to be followed in 2011 by current accounts.
However, with the FSA tightening up rules in the wake of the credit crunch, Tesco may have to wait for up to another year, says the Observer. The supermarket told the paper: "The FSA is just being careful. It is a new process and it is very difficult."
Tesco plans to offer mortgages delayed by regulatory checks - Observer