First Active
History
First Active was originally founded in 1861 as the Workingman's Benefit Building Society and was incorporated in Ireland in 1875 under the Building Societies Act.
In 1960 the name was changed to the First National Building Society. From there it continued to grow and expand its branch network through several acquisitions of smaller building societies. Then in 1994, First National acquired Mortgage Trust Limited a UK mortgage lending company. In 1995, they set up a deposit taking subsidiary in Guernsey, Channel Islands. Then the UK operation was expanded in 1996 by acquiring the Mortgage Corporation, and then a retail deposit operation was established that same year in the UK.
In 1998, the AGM saw listing the on the Irish and London Stock Exchange, raising over IR£132 million in new capital from existing members and from the institutional markets. Then by 2002, First Active sold its investments in First Active Financial in the UK to Britannic Assurance plc.
Then in 2004, it became a whole owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that owns Ulster Bank. In January 2009, it ceased to operate as a separate entity.
Remortgages offered through First Active
When First Active initially launched, they only offered mortgages and remortgages through intermediaries then they expanded to offer products over the phone and online as well. Since the merger with Ulster, all mortgages are offered through them.