HSBC, Britain's biggest bank, said it would attempt to transform the brand into a top ten player in the UK general insurance market.
At present, HSBC has only a 1% share of car and house insurance policies in the UK compared with a 15% share of current accounts.
A spokesman for HSBC said the bank would roll out a nationwide marketing campaign in the third quarter of this year using its agencies of record. HSBC currently uses WPP's JWT for its above-the-line account and MindShare handles the bank's media planning and buying.
By picking Aviva, the industry's biggest player with a 15% market share through Norwich Union, HSBC is building on a pre-existing relationship under which it already sells products from the insurer.
HSBC is hoping to boost the proportion of profits it makes from insurance from 10% to 20% globally through the joint venture.
Dyfrig John, chief executive of HSBC's UK banking operations, said: "I don't think we've focused on this enough ... It would be fair to say that HSBC has historically punched below its weight in insurance ... We are going to put a lot more emphasis on insurance than we have in the past."