For many years, Tesco proclaimed itself a challenger bank and with its many branches and reach, it looked the most likely to break the stranglehold of the traditional High Street banks.
But its withdrawal from home loans is for one reason: the supermarket could not make enough money from flogging mortgages.
The stark message that Tesco’s decision sends, I believe, is that it is no longer a challenger bank.
The move reveals its real identity; it is just another company only interested in products that will yield a decent profit.
On the one hand, that has obviously been such food staples as beans and bread, while on the other, the retail chain has grabbed the opportunity to make piles of money by selling insurance.
For a challenger bank to be successful, it must have service at its heart.
It is true that the traditional banks have for decades been busy attempting to move away from their service culture and move towards being financial supermarkets.
That is obvious from the way they have encouraged branch staff to push unsuitable insurance or profitable loans on their long-suffering customers.
That is why most of us have welcomed the challenger, because it is service that most people expect from their banks.
They want a safe and secure place to keep their money along with the convenience of getting at it when they need to, whether that is through a branch or an app on their phone.
Frankly, the most successful challenger banks are those that have put service at the heart of their offering.
Tesco’s admittance that profits are more important than offering a service to their customers reveals that they are more of a traditional bank than a challenger.
And while financial advisers may not be in the habit of helping people choose their bank, maybe it is time to take a more holistic approach to advice and help clients get a good service from all their financial services suppliers.
At the very least, it is worth checking if any clients have a Tesco mortgage and, if they do, point out the benefits of switching to a rival with more staying power and better long-term deals.
Simon Read is a freelance journalist
