Tesco took a further step on its journey to become a force in banking by signing up U.S. group Fiserv to provide the technology platform for its financial services business.
The supermarket group said on Friday, the second day of presentations to investors about its ambition to grow in retail services, that Fiserv would help it to make the leap from a collection of financial products (including insurance policies) to a full-service bank.
Tesco bought Royal Bank of Scotland out of a financial joint venture in July 2008 and unveiled plans to double profits from its retail services businesses, such as banking, to 1 billion pounds over several years.
It has since gone on a staff recruitment drive, started testing bank branches within stores and signed an insurance deal with Fortis. It is also benefiting from discontent with traditional banks following the financial market crisis.
In presentation slides on its Web site, Tesco said it has 6 million customer accounts, with its credit card business growing at an annual rate of about 10 percent, personal loans growing at 19 percent and instant access savings accounts at 28 percent.
Transactions at its travel money business are up over 100 percent, it added.
The group said its banking business would initially target its most loyal shoppers — the 15 million members of its Clubcard loyalty scheme.
