An Post
“Can a national postal operator with a trusted retail network become Ireland's go-to consumer financial-services brand without becoming a bank?”
An Post is Ireland's designated universal postal operator that has progressively built a consumer financial-services arm — An Post Money — alongside its mail and parcels business. It is authorised by the Minister for Finance and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as a payment services provider, and issues its own Mastercard debit card. Lending and credit cards are white-labelled from Bankinter S.A. (Avant Money / Avantcard), while insurance is brokered and SME merchant lending is partnered with GRID Finance. The strategy is to leverage post-office footfall and trust to become a multi-product retail finance provider without taking on a banking licence.