An Post and Belgian bank Fortis received the go-ahead today after the Financial Services Regulator approved their financial services joint venture.
The retail banking service will be known as Postbank and is expected to start trading as early as next month, according to Postbank CEO Margaret Sweeney.
"Now that we are to receive our banking licence from the Irish Financial Services Regulator we can start to finalise our plans for market entry", she said. "We hope to be ready to begin offering products to the public within a few weeks."
The venture, which won Government approval last October, will use An Post's 1,400-strong post office network to enter the mortgage and personal credit market.
Postbank will be represented in over 200 post offices to begin with and will expand through the Post Office network over the following 12-months.
The venture will initially offer savings and investment products, expanding to provide full banking services including current accounts, loans, credit cards and internet banking by the autumn.
An Post workers will transfer to the new business but keep the same pay and conditions. The company is expected to employ 250 people, rising to 500 over the next five years.