Atom Bank gets green light for mobile app
The challenger bank, established two years ago as the UK’s first all-digital operation, will initially target small to medium-sized businesses.
The challenger bank, established two years ago as the UK’s first all-digital operation, will initially target small to medium-sized businesses.
Atom Bank, which received a restricted licence to operate from the Bank of England (BoE) last June, has won the go-ahead from regulators to launch its mobile app to iPhone and iPad users in the latest stage of its bid to become the UK’s first digital-only lender.
The challenger bank, in which Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has a 29.5% stake, has raised over £135m since it was formed in April 2014, through the support of a group of over 100 private and institutional investors. It is led by chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Mullen and chairman Anthony Thomson.
Atom now plans to provide fixed savings, current accounts, debit and credit cards by the end of the year. The branch-free bank has a Durham-based customer support team and will offer overdrafts and instant access savings and residential mortgages serviced via its mobile app, which will also be available to Android users.
The bank also aims to attract customers from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by offering secured lending through a number of specialist business intermediaries. “We believe we have built a bank in record time, and we’re not planning to stop here,” said Thomson.
Atom’s app uses face and voice biometrics to log-in to the app and paper-free account opening.