Industry sources suggest the new lender is on track to launch in July or August.
Tesco Bank said earlier this year it was in the final stages of the regulatory discussions with the Financial Services Authority and was hopeful of getting approval in the first half of the year.
A statement from Tesco Bank said: “We anticipate launching mortgages this summer, the exact date is of course subject to regulatory approval. We continue to work through the detail of our product and will update you on this when we’re ready to talk about it.”
The bank did not confirm whether the use of Club Card customer information would influence its sales strategy.
But Neil Tomlinson, consulting partner and head of banking at Deloitte, predicted last week that the big retailers entering financial services would use their customer insight to compete with incumbent lenders.
He said the insight that the brands such as Tesco, John Lewis and Sainsbury’s have into their customers would change the way products in retail financial services are designed and priced.
He said: “Customer insight is going to be a critical part of winning because it will enable successful organisations to develop products and customer propositions that are tailored and provide a much better service and level of satisfaction than we’ve seen before.
“They know what their customers have in their shopping baskets, whether they like butter or margarine. Picture a scene where they are able to assess and underwrite your insurance and price based on the things you have in your basket. Not only the form you fill in when you apply for life insurance, but whether you eat red meat and drink a lot. They will also price for risk of mortgages and secured loans.”
