Tesco Bank is to extend the closure date for the withdrawal of its credit cards from Manx customers.

It follows the Department for Enterprise’s request for the bank to explain the rationale behind its initial decision to write to existing island customers and a front-page Examiner story last week which revealed the situation.

Tesco Bank will now extend the closure date for the about 1,200 credit card customers by six months from the originally planned date of May 3, 2022.

A number of banking groups in the Isle of Man do continue to provide credit cards to island residents and the Department for Enterprise says that it continues to liaise directly with the local banking community.

HSBC has confirmed that it is fully open for considering applications for credit cards from Isle of Man residents, even if they’re not already a customer.

Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Minister for Enterprise said: ’I am grateful for the decision from Tesco Bank to extend the closure date of their services to Isle of Man customers for an additional six months, which I hope will provide valuable time for customers to find alternative providers.

’The department will continue to liaise with the local banking community and other potential providers to explore a range of options to ensure consumer services such as credit cards are fully available on the island.’

The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority also continues to monitor the availability of credit to Isle of Man residents from banks licensed in the Isle of Man, and this includes the availability of credit cards from their wider banking groups.

The Isle of Man Government says there appeard to be no legal prohibitions under UK law that prevented UK regulated credit card providers from issuing cards to our residents.

It has historically been a commercial decision and the range of providers offering services to the island has fluctuated over a number of years.