Sainsbury's has launched a new financial services brand, Sainsbury's Money, marking the completion of its transition from a retail bank to a partner-led financial services model.
The new brand, powered by Sainsbury's Financial Services Ltd, will offer insurance, credit and travel money products through specialist partners, enabling the supermarket group to focus on its core retail business while continuing to provide financial services to customers.
As part of the transition, Sainsbury's Bank has ceased to be authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and no longer holds banking permissions.
Customers will continue to access financial products through both the Sainsbury's and Argos brands. Sainsbury's Money will distribute Sainsbury's-branded insurance and credit products, while travel money services will be provided through partner providers. Argos-branded financial products, including Argos Pay and Argos Care, will continue to offer credit and insurance products.
All Sainsbury's and Argos financial services products will be managed by Sainsbury's Financial Services Ltd.
The retailer said the simplified model would enable it to focus on three core customer needs: protecting what matters, rewarding customers through Nectar, and providing access to credit when needed.
Bláthnaid Bergin, chief financial officer at Sainsbury's, said: "This transition means we're now able to focus all our time and resources going forward on growing our core retail business, delivering great quality and value, week in, week out.
"This is an important step forward for Sainsbury's. We've moved from being a bank to a financial services provider that works with specialist partners to bring our customers simple, great-value products that fit around how they live and shop.
"We're proud of how we've supported customers through this transition, and excited about the role Sainsbury's Money will play in the future."
The launch concludes a multi-year overhaul of the retailer's financial services business.
Since 2024, Sainsbury's has sold its core banking products to NatWest, divested its ATM business to NoteMachine, sold the Argos card portfolio to NewDay Group, transferred its insurance business to Allianz UK and completed the transfer of its travel money business to Fexco.
The retailer said all customer migrations had been completed successfully with continuity of service maintained throughout.
Britain's second-largest supermarket group yesterday reported slower underlying sales growth in its first quarter, as higher energy prices weighed on consumer confidence and spending, but left its full-year profit guidance unchanged.