Spanish group Bankinter will soon be a new entrant to the Irish banking market.
The group will offer services, including deposits, under its Spanish licence until it secures an Irish permit.
Bankinter already offers mortgages in Ireland under the brand Avant Money.
The bank will be digital rather than branch-based, and will use the Avant name.
In a statement released on Friday morning, Bankinter said: “The establishment of the branch in Ireland will allow the bank to also operate in the deposit market and then expand it to other financial products and services.
“The entity carries out the necessary administrative procedures for the constitution of Bankinter Ireland, which involves the acquisition from the bank’s consumer subsidiary, BKCF, of all the shares it owns that make up the share capital of Avant Money.”
The Bankinter Group began operating in Ireland in May 2019 through Avant Money, a company dedicated to the consumer lending business and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as a payment institution, retail credit institution and insurance distributor.
In September 2020, Bankinter incorporated the mortgage business into this strategy, which in a few years has had a very positive evolution.
At the end of the first quarter of 2024, the business’ mortgage portfolio in Ireland amounted to €2.4 billion, 53 per cent more than a year ago.