offers a range of
Mortgage ,
Savings ,
Investment ,
Pension and
Life Assurance products in the
Republic Of Ireland and are the sole provider of Current Account Mortgages in the Irish marketplace.
First Active was founded in
1861 as the Workingman's Benefit Building Society. It was incorporated in
Ireland in
1875 under the Building Societies Act,
1874 . In
1960 the name of the Society was changed to First National Building Society. Over a period of years First National grew both organically, through expansion of its branch network, and by the acquisition of the business of five small building societies.
In
1994 First National acquired Mortgage Trust Limited, a
UK centralised mortgage lending business. In
1995 a deposit taking subsidiary commenced business in
Guernsey ,
Channel Islands . The Group's UK operations were expanded in
1996 through the acquisition of The Mortgage Corporation. A retail deposit taking operation was established in
England in 1996 to obtain sterling deposits to fund the Group's growing mortgage business in the UK.
At the
1998 Annual General Meeting the members voted to convert to a
Public Limited Company and to list the Company shares on the Irish and
London Stock Exchange . Conversion occurred on 7th September 1998, the shares were listed on 6th October 1998 and simultaneously the company raised 132 million in new capital from existing members and from the institutional markets.
Between September
2000 and December
2002 First Active sold its investments in First Active Financial in the UK to Britannic Assurance plc.
Since the early '00s, it has been using an advertising campaign which involves playing on colloquial phrases and putting them right. Examples include the First Active representitive telling "Most people" that there's no need to keep switching mortage companies, finding "whoever said that you need to keep switching mortgages in order to get the best deal", and finding where it is written that it takes ages to get a decision on your mortgage. This campaign is vastly popular with some among the British internet community for its dry, pedantic wit.
On 5 January
2004 First Active became a wholly owned member of the
Royal Bank Of Scotland Group and now offers its services in
Great Britain as well as the Republic of Ireland.
