Abbey had shortlisted Archibald Ingall Stretton, FCBi, Hall Moore CHI and Rapier for the account.
However, Hall Moore CHI later withdrew citing a conflict of interest with another client. It handles a number of Royal Bank of Scotland brands together with its related above-the-line agency Clemmow Hornby Inge, including the Mint credit card.
The AAR is handling the pitch process, which is expected to be completed by June.
Tequila\London, which handles Abbey's direct marketing account, pitched for the new business but failed to make the shortlist. The outcome does not change its existing business with Abbey.
The decision to relaunch the cards has been forced by the Abbey owner, Grupo Santander, which is bringing the back office operations of the cards in-house. The cards were previously outsourced to MBNA, which was bought last year by Bank of America.
WCRS, which handles the Abbey advertising account, is also unaffected by the review.
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