UK retailer Tesco says it is in the final stages of introducing its own systems and infrastructure for its fully-fledged banking operation, with savings and loans products now available to new customers
Tesco bank, the largest UK supermarket bank with 6.5 million customer accounts, went live on the Fiserv Signature platform in November.
In an interim management statement, the retailer says that most of its insurance and banking products have been migrated successfully to the new platform. New savings and loan products have also been introduced for new customers, with the migration of existing accounts "imminent".
"We're growing the number of customer accounts steadily and this will accelerate as we launch mortgages and other new products in the months ahead," says the statement.
In October last year, Tesco Bank inked a five year contract with customer management outsourcing firm Vertex to support a move into the mortgage market.
The introduction of mortgages is a central plank of Tesco's plans to extend its financial services business from a collection of disparate products to that of a full-service retail bank.
It had initially planned to start offering mortgages last year but has delayed the process, reportedly amid moves by the Financial Services Authority to tighten up rules in the wake of the credit crunch.