Avant Money

Avant Money is an Irish financial-services brand serving consumers in the Republic of Ireland. It operates within Bankinter Group, the Spanish banking group headquartered in Madrid. The brand is the continuation of the Irish business historically associated with MBNA Ireland, a consumer-credit operation that became part of Bankinter after Bankinter acquired the Irish credit-card business from Bank of America in 2019. The brand's principal activities are consumer finance rather than full-service branch banking. Its publicly presented offering has included credit cards, personal loans and residential mortgages. These products place Avant Money in the Irish retail-finance market, where customers typically compare providers on interest rates, fees, application convenience, repayment flexibility and digital servicing. The business model is primarily direct and digitally oriented, consistent with the legacy of MBNA's card-focused, remote-service operation and with Bankinter's broader emphasis on technology-enabled banking. Avant Money's history reflects several changes in ownership and brand positioning in the Irish credit market. The operation began as MBNA Ireland, connected to the United States-based MBNA consumer-credit group. MBNA was subsequently acquired by Bank of America, and the Irish business remained associated with that ownership for a period. In 2019, Bankinter acquired the Irish credit-card portfolio and related operations from Bank of America. The business later traded under the Avant Money name, giving Bankinter a locally recognizable consumer-finance platform in Ireland. The brand's relationship with Bankinter is strategically important. Bankinter is a listed Spanish financial-services company with operations in Spain, Portugal and Ireland, and it has expanded outside its home market through specialist consumer-finance and banking businesses. Avant Money gives the group an Irish presence without presenting itself as a conventional branch-based Irish bank. Its proposition is instead built around a focused range of borrowing products, online applications and customer servicing. Avant Money is not a separately listed public company. Its ownership and strategic direction sit within Bankinter Group, while the customer-facing brand is targeted at the Irish market. Available reference material does not establish a separate founding year, founder, executive roster or independently reported financial results for Avant Money. Those fields are therefore left unconfirmed here rather than inferred from the history of MBNA, Bank of America or Bankinter.

Avant Money is the Irish consumer-finance brand associated with Bankinter Group. Its immediate institutional predecessor was MBNA Ireland, a credit-card business that formed part of the wider MBNA consumer-finance network. MBNA developed as a specialist issuer of credit cards and related consumer-credit products, operating largely through direct and remote channels rather than through a large traditional branch network. MBNA became part of Bank of America, which continued to operate the Irish business under the MBNA Ireland identity. The Irish operation therefore entered the late 2010s as an established consumer-credit platform with an existing customer base and market infrastructure. The business was not created as a new Bankinter branch bank; instead, it was transferred through an acquisition that allowed Bankinter to enter or expand its position in Ireland using an existing specialist operation. In 2019, Bankinter acquired the Irish credit-card business from Bank of America. The transaction connected the Irish operation to Bankinter, a Spanish financial-services group founded in 1965 and listed in Spain. Bankinter's wider development has included commercial banking, digital banking, consumer finance and international expansion. The Irish acquisition complemented that strategy by adding a focused consumer-credit business in another European market. Following the change in ownership, the Irish operation became associated with the Avant Money brand. The rebranding placed the business under a name distinct from both MBNA and Bankinter while retaining its role as a locally focused Irish financial-services provider. Avant Money's portfolio has included credit cards, personal loans and mortgages. These products broaden the brand beyond its historical card identity while preserving its concentration on consumer borrowing. The brand's operating model remains primarily direct and digitally enabled. Customers engage with the business through online product information, applications and servicing rather than through a widely documented national branch network. This approach reflects both the legacy of MBNA's specialist card model and Bankinter's long-standing interest in electronic and digital banking. It also positions Avant Money within a competitive Irish market in which consumers can compare lenders through digital channels. Avant Money is part of Bankinter rather than an independently listed institution. Public reference material identifies Bankinter as its parent group, but does not provide a separately reported Avant Money revenue figure, profit figure, stock listing or detailed standalone executive history. The brand's development is therefore best understood as a sequence of institutional transitions: an MBNA-origin Irish credit operation, a period under Bank of America, acquisition by Bankinter in 2019, and subsequent operation under the Avant Money identity. Its present role is that of Bankinter's Irish-facing consumer-finance brand.

1. 2019Bankinter acquires the Irish credit-card business

   Bankinter acquired the Irish credit-card operation then associated with MBNA Ireland from Bank of America.

   Source
2. The business adopts the Avant Money identity

   The Irish operation subsequently traded under the Avant Money name as a Bankinter Group consumer-finance business.

   Source

A digitally oriented Irish consumer-finance brand offering borrowing products under the ownership of Bankinter Group.

• Avant Money credit cardsCredit cards

  Credit cards are the product line most directly connected with the operation's MBNA Ireland heritage. Avant Money presents card-based consumer borrowing to customers in Ireland through a direct, digitally supported model. Specific card variants, rates, fees and eligibility conditions can change over time and are not detailed here without a dated product source.

• Avant Money personal loansPersonal loans

  Personal loans extend the brand beyond revolving card credit into fixed-purpose or general consumer borrowing. The offering is aimed at Irish retail customers and is presented through an online-led application and servicing experience. Loan pricing, terms and approval criteria are product-specific and may change, so no unverified financial terms are included.

• Avant Money mortgagesResidential mortgages

  Mortgages represent Avant Money's residential-lending offering in Ireland. They place the brand in the home-finance market alongside its established consumer-credit products. The product is supplied under Bankinter ownership and is marketed to Irish borrowers through the Avant Money channel; detailed current mortgage ranges and terms require confirmation from the provider's dated product documentation.

• 2019Bankinter purchases the Irish MBNA businessM&A

  Bank of America owned the Irish credit-card operation historically known as MBNA Ireland, while Bankinter was expanding its European consumer-finance activities.

  What changed. Bankinter acquired the Irish credit-card business and incorporated it into its group.

  Aftermath. The acquired operation became the foundation of Bankinter's Irish consumer-finance presence and later traded under the Avant Money name.

  Source

• 2019Bankinter acquires the Irish credit-card business of Bank of America

  Bankinter acquired the Irish credit-card business operated under the MBNA Ireland name from Bank of America, establishing the basis for its later Avant Money brand in Ireland.

  M&A
  Source
• Bankinter continues to operate in Ireland through Avant Money

  Bankinter's Irish consumer-finance operation trades under the Avant Money name and provides products including credit cards, personal loans and mortgages.

  Other
  Source

1. Avant Money official website
2. Bankinter