Tesco delays current account plans by a year

Tesco will not launch its long-awaited current account for another year.

The supermarket giant has confirmed that the key plank of its plans to challenge the high street banks will now not be in place until 2013. It will use the extra time to put in place new IT systems allowing customers to switch accounts more easily from their current banks.

“We want to make sure we are going to deliver the right product for our customers,” said a Tesco spokesman. “As far as we are concerned, we are moving at the right pace in our journey towards offering a full-service bank.”

Tesco still plans to offer mortgages from later this year.