AI adoption at UK banks lags behind US rivals March 17, 2025 UK banks are playing catch up to their US and European counterparts on AI adoption, new research has revealed. Evident Insight’s latest Responsible AI Report showed US banks led the way for AI specialists, with 20 positions alone at JPMorganChase – three times the average lender. Co-founder and co-chief executive of Evident Insights Alexandra Mousavizadeh [...]
Phoenix Group shares soar after upgrading outlooks March 17, 2025 Shares in Phoenix Group rallied over six per cent on Monday morning after the firm smashed its cash generation target and upgraded its future guidance. The FTSE 100 company, which owns insurer Standard Life, recorded a 31 per cent increase in operating profit for 2024, which hit £825m. The group met its 2026 target of [...]
Atom Bank wants to inspire staff back to the office March 10, 2025 The boss of Atom Bank said he wants to inspire his staff back to the office as he announced plans to relocate its headquarters to Newcastle. Chief executive Mark Mullen has confirmed plans to move its head office from The Rivergreen Centre in Durham to The Pattern Shop in Newcastle. The Pattern Shop was where [...]
OakNorth: Shareholders to be handed £40m as US expansion boosts profit March 6, 2025 Profit at challenger bank OakNorth has surged thanks to its expansion into the USA, it has been revealed. The London-headquartered digital bank has reported a pre-tax profit of £214.8m for 2024, up from the £187.3m it posted for the previous 12 months. Over the year, OakNorth provided more than £2.1bn in gross new lending to [...]
Market depth will be key to IPO choice, Monument boss says February 27, 2025 Ian Rand, the former Barclays executive and boss of Monument Bank, spoke to City AM about the bank’s criteria in choosing where to list. Monument spiked the City’s speculation following reports it was looking to go public in the US by 2027 – in what would be another huge blow to the London market. The [...]
Banks accused of ‘rigging the system’ against consumers February 27, 2025 Britain’s top banks are “rigging the system” against consumers and the government must do more, a fintech chief executive has claimed. Financial wellbeing platform Wagestream found 90 per cent of Brits believe they should be saving money but nearly half fear they won’t save a single penny in 2025. The fintech’s ‘State of Financial Wellbeing [...]
Metro Bank returns to profit amid specialist lending pivot February 27, 2025 Metro Bank swung back to profitability in the second half of the year as the bank pressed on with a move away from retail banking and towards specialist lending. The high street bank pulled ahead of guidance in its full-year posting, after a strong performance in the second half of 2024. The FTSE 250 lender [...]
Metro Bank sells personal loan book in switch to specialist lending February 26, 2025 Metro Bank is set to sell its £584m portfolio of unsecured personal loans as the lender switches prioritisation to specialist lending. The disposal, which was first flagged as a possibility at the end of January, will generate £11m in gains for the FTSE 250 bank. The deal – with an undisclosed buyer – comes ahead [...]
Nine in ten six-figure earners say they are not wealthy February 26, 2025 An annual income of £213,000 has been declared the benchmark for ‘wealth‘ according to new research from HSBC. HSBC UK’s new report ‘Your Money’s Worth: Defining Wealth in 2025’ revealed nine in 10 high earners do not consider themselves wealthy, with only one per cent of the population identifying as so. The top four per [...]
Monument Bank partners with fintech Firenze February 25, 2025 Monument Bank has entered a partnership with fintech Firenze to boost the lender’s stronghold among its mass-affluent consumer base. The challenger bank gave Firenze a £160m backing with the aim to scale up its Lombard loan offering for wealth management firms. The Manchester-headquartered fintech, which is just over a year old, offers loans against secure [...]