Tesco Bank agrees sale of credit card portfolio to Avantcard

Under the deal, 27,000 Tesco Bank credit card accounts will be transferred to Avantcard.

Avantcard is headquartered in Carrick-on-Shannon in County Leitrim, Ireland, and employs 200 people.

The deal is expected to be completed by the autumn, although the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tesco Bank took a decision last May to stop accepting applications from Irish customers for its credit card services.

Chris Paul, managing director of Avantcard, said: “We are delighted to have reached agreement with Tesco Bank. As a dedicated consumer finance business, we have built up a team of experts who specialise in the area of resolving customer credit needs.

“Avantcard’s strategy is to be a leading consumer finance provider in Ireland by 2020, and this will be achieved through ongoing product innovation, continuing investment and strategic partnerships. We look forward to welcoming Tesco Bank’s customers to Avantcard, where we have an award-winning team dedicated to service excellence and delivering customer focused, best in class, consumer finance products.”

Will Curley, director of transactional banking, Tesco Bank said: “Avantcard have invested significantly in their business in recent years, and we believe that our customers will be well served by their strong digital servicing platform. Our priority now is to work closely with Avantcard to ensure a seamless transition for our customers to their new credit card provider.”

The move follows Avantcard’s partnership with Chill Money in 2017, acting as issuer and servicer for its loans and credit cards.