Tesco will open 30 branches of what is likely to be branded Tesco Bank within existing supermarkets before the end of this year.

After running a pilot in Glasgow since 2006, three more Tesco Banks will be opened in April in Brislington near Bristol, Blackpool and Coventry.

All will offer existing Tesco Personal Finance products, which include insurance, credit cards and savings accounts and a terminal for TescoCompare.com.

Tesco also hopes to offer current accounts within the next 18 to 24 months, depending on when it can organise IT systems, and has longer-term ambitions in the mortgage markets.

The timing of a mortgage product would depend on 'launching the right products at the right time, now not being it', the company said. Tesco bought out Royal Bank of Scotland’s 50% share of Tesco Personal Finance for £1bn last summer.

Financial Times