International Personal Finance subsidiary gets full Polish licence

International Personal Finance announced on Monday that its Polish home credit subsidiary, Provident Polska, has secured a full payment institution licence from Poland’s financial supervisory authority, the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF).

The London-listed firm said the licence marked a substantial development for the company, as it would enable Provident Polska to increase its issuance of credit cards immediately, supporting an accelerated expansion of customer lending in Poland.

It said the strategic move was expected to enhance International Personal Finance’s growth potential in the Polish market by broadening its credit product offerings.

“The customer response to our new credit card offering has been fantastic,” said chief executive officer Gerard Ryan.

“With this new licence, we will be able to expand access to even more customers, allowing them to shop online, in retail stores or access cash through their customer representative or an ATM.

“Based on the success we have seen so far, we believe there's strong potential to introduce this credit card product to our other markets in the future.”

At 1045 GMT, shares in International Personal Finance were up 1.14% at 133.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.