Atom bank joins Faster Payments as direct participant

21 March 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Atom bank, the UK’s first bank built exclusively for smartphone and tablet, has joined the Faster Payments Scheme as a direct participant and migrated all traffic across its retail deposit book to the real-time payment scheme.

The Durham-based bank launched in 2016 and, since then has introduced a range of Fixed Saver products, Secured Business Lending and Residential Mortgages. New bank entrants often connect to Faster Payments via another bank. Being a real time and direct Faster Payments participant will enable Atom bank to connect customers and services directly to the payment system.

Mark Mullen, CEO at Atom bank said:“We are delighted to have become a member of Faster Payments and this is a crucial milestone in our Atom journey.

Our customers expect real-time services so our joining Faster Payments enables them to send or receive money knowing that it will be instantaneous, safe and simple. Given most customers manage so much of their lives on their phone, this partnership is a huge step in helping them to better manage their finances through our app.”

Since its creation in April 2014, Atom has

Since its creation in April 2014, Atom has:

  • Raised almost £400m of equity capital through the support of private and institutional investors, including BBVA, Woodford Investment Management and Toscafund Asset Management

  • Built a highly motivated and experienced team of around 300 permanent employees

  • Been ranked 8th in KPMG’s ‘Global 2017 Fintech 100’ listing, and uniquely in the EU have been top10 in this listing for the last three years.

  • Ranked 1st in Tech World’s Digital Challengers list

  • Ranked 14th in LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Startups’

  • Voted the UK’s most recommended bank

  • Industry leading NPS scores in relation to Savings Product of 75% (Global score of 72%)

  • Trustpilot score of 5/5

  • 97% of customers said they would recommend us on Reevoo

  • Established a global network of partners and suppliers

  • Launched 1, 2, 3 and 5 Year market-leading Fixed Saver accounts - Atom has nearly £1.3bn in deposits so far

  • Launched Digital Mortgages by Atom, offering secured lending to SMEs and residential mortgage products - Atom has loaned around £1.2bn to date

  • will.i.am joined Atom bank as a Strategic Board Advisor, giving an external perspective on culture, community and technology

  • Partnered with Deposit Solutions and passported its deposit taking licence to Germany to access German retail savings market to diversify funding options and increase deposits

  • Announced a four year STEM partnership with the Prince’s Trust in North East England

  • Signed up to the Women in Finance Charter in 2016 and the Tech Talent Charter in 2017

    ENDS

Note to Editors

After securing its banking license in June 2015, Atom bank launched operations in April 2016, offering market-leading Fixed Saver accounts and secured business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’). From the start, Atom set out to build a customer- driven bank,designed to meet their new needs and optimised for mobile technologies.

Atom bank launched its first mobile mortgage product a year ago and has recently announced it has taken £1.3bn of deposits and has now lent £1.2bn to small businesses and homeowners.

The Atom executive team are highly experienced, having built and run some of the most well respected banks in the UK. CEO Mark Mullen has 25 years’ experience in the sector and was previously CEO at the multi- award winning telephone and internet bank first direct. The team are supported by a strong non exec board, which includes newly appointed Chair, Bridget Rosewell. Bridget has also been the chair of Atom’s audit committee since 2014. She has an economics background and is also Chairman of the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency and on the board of Network Rail as well as a Commissioner with the National Infrastructure Commission.

Atom is determined to set the agenda for what the future of banking looks like, redefining the relationship customers have with their money, providing a unique, branch-free, banking experience, built around the best interests of customers. They want customers to be more engaged with their finances, giving them the ability to manage their own money just by using the Atom app. A dedicated 24/7 support team will be on hand to help with any customer queries through phone, chat, email and social media, working out of their Durham HQ.