Starling Bank announces partnerships with mortgage broker, investment and pensions firms and insurer in open banking push February 13, 2018 Starling Bank will today unveil four new partners for its in-app marketplace, raising the prospect of customers buying insurance and even gaining a mortgage through the bank's app within weeks. The digital-only bank will launch an integration with Pensionbee in its app from today, with digital investing service Wealthsimple, mortgage broker Habito and Kasko travel [...]
Serious Fraud Office slaps Barclays with new charge over Qatar capital raising scandal February 12, 2018 The UK's fraud watchdog has today hefted a new charge onto BarclaysBank, in relation to an emergency fundraising it conducted in the summer of 2008. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today charged Barclays with giving "unlawful financial assistance", after it raised £4.5bn in June 2008 and £7.3bn that October from investors including Qatar Holding and [...]
Metro Bank says it will create 900 new jobs in 2018 February 9, 2018 Metro Bank today said it will create almost 900 new jobs over the course of 2018 as it swims against the tide of big bank branch closures. The challenger bank's plans contrast with those of Lloyds, the largest UK retail banking operation, which this week said it will cut 900 jobs, moving half that number [...]
TSB warns of 2018 profit dent from increasing Lloyds outsourcing fees February 2, 2018 Challenger bank TSB today warned that increasing fees to Lloyds for running their computer systems will dent 2018 profits. Statutory profits before tax fell by more than 10 per cent to £162.7m, from the £182m seen last year mainly because of increased outsourcing fees, TSB reported today in a full-year update. The bank, which spun [...]
Atom bank founder Anthony Thomson steps down from chairman role January 25, 2018 The chairman of Atom bank, Anthony Thomson, late last night announced his resignation from the digital challenger. Thomson, who founded Atom, had been the chairman since the app-only bank was established in 2014. Since launching, it has taken over £1bn of deposits and lent more than £1bn to small businesses and homeowners. Singer Will.i.am is [...]
City of London steps up Brexit diplomacy as financial services white paper is shelved January 23, 2018 The City is seeking to take control of its post-Brexit future by ramping up engagement with EU member states, as it emerges that ministers have shelved plans for a financial services white paper. Meetings have been taking place with weekly envoys from the City of London Corporation and TheCityUK meeting ministers from across the continent. [...]
RBS is selling its London Bishopsgate headquarters in cost-cutting drive January 23, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is currently majority-owned by the UK government, is planning to flog its London headquarters post-2019 as it pushes ahead with an extreme cost-cutting drive. The bank will move out of the 280 Bishopsgate building back down the road to number 250, which it is planning to revamp later this [...]
Boom time: Clear Bank founder Nick Ogden on his efforts to start a British banking revolution January 15, 2018 Even in the ancient world of City banking, 250 years is a long time. Yet that was how long the UK has had to wait for a new clearing bank until Nick Ogden launched Clear Bank out of the blue last year. A decades-long consolidation of clearing banks – which provide banking services to other [...]
Emma, the “banking app for millennials”, gets FCA approval and announces it will integrate Monzo and Revolut January 12, 2018 London-based Emma Technologies, which calls itself the "banking app for millennials", has today won approval from the City watchdog to provide payment services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) gave the nod to the mobile-only app just over a month after it launched its beta service, helping consumers avoid overdrafts, find and cancel subscriptions and track [...]
Credit Suisse is shuttering one of its Canary Wharf offices January 5, 2018 Credit Suisse is to pull out of one of its Canary Wharf offices as it ramps up a cost-cutting exercise and culls thousands of jobs. The Swiss banking giant is consolidating its London footprint and plans to reduce headcount in the UK capital to 5,000 by the end of the year. The rationalisation measures are [...]