Avarda Bank AB still answers as TF Bank on tfbank.it
The shopfront at tfbank.it is not a separately incorporated Italian bank. The legal notice names Avarda Bank AB (publ), a Swedish credit institution at Bolagsverket under organisation number 556158-1041, VAT SE556158104101, visiting address Lilla Brogatan 6, 503 30 Borås, and postal Box 947, 501 10 Borås. TF Bank is the secondary name used on Italian pages. The home supervisor is Finansinspektionen in Stockholm. Group news dated 9 April 2026 records that TF Bank AB changed its corporate name to Avarda Bank AB while keeping the same number. Italian contacts are info@tfbank.it and 800 580 669 or +39 02 999 444 77.
The about page still describes a Nordic digital bank present in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, the Baltics, Poland, Spain, and Italy. Group segments named there are consumer lending, e-commerce payments, and credit cards. That map is not the Italian catalogue. A FAQ titled “Quali prodotti offre TF Bank in Italia?” says the bank has specialised in a credit card for private customers. The homepage sells the TF Mastercard Gold. A “Deposito bancario” page exists and is labelled incoming, with no published Italian rate when we checked on 19 September 2026. Treat tfbank.it as a consumer-credit site, not a place to park savings or request a lump-sum personal loan.
The TF Mastercard Gold is a revolving line, not a personal-loan payout
The TF Mastercard Gold is a Mastercard issued to one named holder, with a limit the bank sets after a solvency check. The SECCI PDF still hosted on the site says the initial line is set from that review, with a maximum of 5,000 euros. The public FAQ says you cannot raise the limit yourself from the app. General terms updated 9 April 2026 let you ask; the bank may refuse and must re-check affordability before any increase. There is no annual fee and no listed spend minimum. If you do not use the line, the site says the monthly invoice can be zero. This is revolving consumer credit, not a current account and not a fixed personal loan.
- Annual fee, issue fee, statement fee, card shipping, and card block: 0 euros as listed on 19 September 2026
- TF Bank FX markup on purchases: 0 euros; Mastercard’s conversion rate still applies
- Cash withdrawal at Mastercard ATMs: 3.90 euros per draw, plus any ATM-owner fee
- Minimum monthly repayment: 3 percent of used credit, never less than 30 euros
- Live revolving example: 1,000 euros over 12 instalments of 93.11 euros, total due 1,117.37 euros
- SECCI maximum initial line: 5,000 euros; your approved limit can be lower
The 21 percent TAN on the homepage is not the only number on the site
As of 19 September 2026 the homepage prints TAN 21.00 percent and TAEG 23.14 percent next to that 1,000-euro, twelve-month example, with a total cost of credit of 117.37 euros before the 3.90-euro cash fee. Purchases can be interest-free if you pay the full statement by the due date. The longest grace example is 55 days: a purchase on day one of a 31-day billing month, paid by the deadline. Cash withdrawals, transfers to your reference account, and items treated as quasi-cash start accruing from posting. That quasi-cash list includes casino, lottery, and betting merchants, securities platforms, and crypto purchases.
A SECCI PDF still linked from tfbank.it uses older figures: 24.95 percent TAN and 28.01 percent TAEG on revolving purchases, and 26.45 percent TAN and 29.90 percent TAEG on cash and quasi-cash, with four-year examples around 1,590 to 1,634 euros repaid on a 1,000-euro draw. The April 2026 terms point you to the SECCI handed over before you sign. Italian consumer-credit rules treat that pre-contract SECCI as the comparison document, not a homepage banner. If the PDF and the live tiles disagree, read the SECCI attached to your own offer. This article records both published sets as of 19 September 2026 and is not advice to borrow.
Read the current TAN, TAEG, and SECCI on tfbank.it before you type an application. The figures on your own pre-contract form beat any snapshot in this guide.
Open the live TF Bank Italy card page →Who the form is built for — and who should not apply
The application is built for a natural person who already lives in Italy, can receive mail at an Italian address, and can pass a digital identity check. A January 2025 how-to post on the bank’s blog states that Italian residence is required. Italian or other EU citizens upload a plastic identity card or a passport, front and back. Non-EU applicants must show a residence permit valid for at least 24 months from the application date. Paper identity cards and driving licences are refused. The flow then asks for a hologram check, a video selfie, and a digital signature, with IDnow named as the identity app. The public site does not print a minimum age.
- Skip the form if you do not reside in Italy or cannot receive plastic at a stable Italian address
- Skip it if you need a current account, a salary IBAN, or a cash personal loan paid out in one transfer
- Skip it if you plan to carry a revolving balance as cheap long-term credit; the live TAEG is 23.14 percent
- Skip it if your credit file is already strained; the FAQ only allows a new try after 30 days
- Skip it if you wanted the deposit page as a savings product; that Italian page was still marked incoming on 19 September 2026
- Skip it if you need a published minimum age or income rule; those thresholds are not on the public pages
The card can still be a fit if you already keep a separate Italian payment account, want a second Mastercard for travel or online checkout, and will clear purchases in full most months so the 55-day window is real. Zero annual fee and no TF Bank FX markup on purchases are the features that matter in that use. Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Mastercard Identity Check are listed. None of that changes the credit decision. This guide does not tell you to apply or to treat unused limit as emergency savings. Unused limit is still a facility the bank can cut under the contract.
Price TF Bank as a Swedish-licensed revolving Mastercard sold to Italian residents: the live 21.00 percent TAN and 23.14 percent TAEG are the cost of carrying a balance, and a “no annual fee” homepage does not make minimum payments free.
— Jordan Blake
Application, IDnow, plastic, and the TF Card app
The advertised path is online only. You complete the form on tfbank.it, using a correct mobile number and email because later steps arrive there. If the risk team approves, the bank says it posts the plastic to the address on the file. An older blog note says a PIN arrives in a second letter; the live FAQ says the PIN sits in the customer area after login. Treat the customer-area PIN as current unless your welcome mail says otherwise. April 2026 terms list two activation methods: a PIN-confirmed purchase, or a PIN-confirmed ATM cash withdrawal. After activation, the TF Card app shows live transactions, monthly statements, and an instant freeze. Lost plastic is handled by email to clienti.carta@tfbank.it.
Paying the bill: 55 days, the 25th, and the 3 percent trap
The default in the SECCI and the April 2026 terms is a bank transfer from an account in your name to the IBAN on the statement, unless you later set up a SEPA mandate. Settlement is the last banking day of the month. The due date in the terms is the 25th of the following month. Pay the full purchase balance by that date and ordinary shop and web purchases in that cycle should not accrue interest. Pay only the minimum — 3 percent of used credit, at least 30 euros — and the product switches to revolving. If that due date passes unpaid on a “pay in full” setting, revolving interest can run back to each purchase date.
You may repay early in full or in part at any time. Early repayment does not cancel interest already due on cash and quasi-cash, which run from the transaction date. Payments are allocated first to interest, then to fees, then to principal under the general terms. Missed payments can add collection charges the SECCI prices at 15 euros in the first ten days and 20 euros from day ten to fifteen, capped at 35 euros for one missed item, plus default interest two points above the lowest rate on that unpaid bill. Going over the limit can add a 20-euro excess fee. You can cancel by email after you clear the residual balance.
Travel cover, Privilege extras, and the limits marketing tiles skip
The card page bundles travel insurance at no extra premium if you pay at least 50 percent of the trip transport with the TF Mastercard Gold. Marketing tiles list medical cover up to 20,000 euros, lost-baggage reimbursement up to 2,500 euros, trip-cancellation cover up to 3,000 euros, and 24/7 assistance. The insurance page names Sedgwick as the claims desk, with telephone +44 141 240 1913 and claimstravel@ie.sedgwick.com. Full cover is described as available up to age 75. Those are policy limits, not a guarantee a claim will be paid. TF Privilege adds partner cashback and a friend-invite bonus whose euro amount is not printed as a fixed public figure.
TF Bank does not give you an Italian current account, a Bancomat debit card, or a published personal-loan tariff on tfbank.it. The deposit page’s European guarantee line is a group feature, not a live Italian savings product with a rate you can book today. If that deposit ever opens, Swedish Riksgälden cover for Avarda Bank AB is documented on the Swedish site at up to 1,150,000 kronor per depositor — background on the legal entity, not an Italian offer to click. Finansinspektionen’s branch list, when we checked, named Baltic, Nordic, Polish, and Spanish branches, not a separately listed Italian branch. Complaints go first to the bank, then to Sweden’s Allmänna reklamationsnämnden at arn.se.
If you still want the zero-fee Mastercard and can pay in full, open tfbank.it, download the current SECCI, and only submit data you would be comfortable seeing on a credit file.
Compare the live TF Bank conditions →FAQ
Is TF Bank an Italian bank, and who watches it?
No. The legal entity is Avarda Bank AB (publ), organisation number 556158-1041, a Swedish bankaktiebolag supervised by Finansinspektionen. TF Bank is the secondary name on Italian pages. CEO Joakim Jansson and chair John Brehmer are named on the legal notice. Italian-language service and Italian law on the card contract do not turn the issuer into a Banca d’Italia-authorised Italian bank. You still have Italian consumer-credit rights, including a SECCI before signature and a 14-day withdrawal after the contract is concluded. Distant-selling rules in the SECCI start that clock from activation, first use, or app enrolment, or from receipt of the contractual information if that is later.
Which TAEG should you use when you compare this card with another issuer?
Use the TAEG printed on the SECCI the bank gives you for your own limit and repayment plan. For a public snapshot on 19 September 2026, the live site’s comparison example is 23.14 percent TAEG on 1,000 euros repaid in twelve 93.11-euro instalments, total 1,117.37 euros, plus 3.90 euros if that example is a cash withdrawal. The older hosted SECCI PDF still shows 28.01 percent and 29.90 percent on different four-year examples. TAEG is a statutory comparison tool under Banca d’Italia transparency rules; it is not a forecast of what you will pay if you only clear the 30-euro minimum for years.
Can you open a TF Bank deposit in Italy from tfbank.it today?
Not from the pages we reviewed on 19 September 2026. The deposito page advertises competitive rates, monthly interest, daily availability, and European deposit-guarantee language, but it is still tagged as incoming and does not publish an Italian rate, a minimum deposit, or an application button with contractual terms. The Italy products FAQ does not list a savings account among live products. Third-party write-ups that recycle German rate figures are describing other markets, not a booked Italian tariff. If the Italian deposit later launches, read the Italian information sheet. Until then, do not send money to an IBAN from a marketing email. This is not investment advice.
What happens if TF Bank refuses the card, and can you try again?
The FAQ says a refusal means the risk department, after your data and solvency files, decided you do not match the profile required for the card. The bank is not obliged to accept every application; the April 2026 terms repeat that. If a credit-database hit drove the “no,” EU consumer-credit rules as restated in the SECCI require a prompt, free notice of that consultation unless a public-order exception applies. You may apply again after 30 days if your situation has changed. A second try is not a right to approval.
Does paying 30 euros a month keep purchases interest-free?
No. The 30-euro floor, or 3 percent of used credit if that figure is higher, is the revolving minimum, and the site states that paying only the minimum generates the interest set in the card conditions. Interest-free treatment is for ordinary purchases paid in full by the statement due date, with the 55-day example as the longest advertised case. Cash, account transfers, and quasi-cash never get that holiday. If you cannot clear the statement, the honest comparison is the live 21.00 percent TAN and 23.14 percent TAEG, or whatever pair appears on your SECCI, not the zero annual fee. A Privilege cashback code does not offset that cost.
