Starling Bank: The rise and fall of a fintech darling May 30, 2025 Over a decade ago three fintechs entered the banking scene and set their sights on reshaping its landscape. Starling, Monzo and Revolut rapidly expanded as they leveraged modern tech to streamline banking operations, enhance consumer experience and disrupt traditional financial models. The trio of fintech darlings ballooned customer bases in record numbers. But as two [...]
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 [...]
OakNorth boss says ‘wealth creators’ leaving UK over tax hikes December 9, 2024 The co-founder and chief executive of challenger bank OakNorth has warned that “wealth creators” are fleeing the UK over tax hikes as he accused the new government of falling short on entrepreneurship. Rishi Khosla, whose start-up bank has lent more than £10bn to businesses since launching in 2015, told City AM that “even when you [...]
Coventry Building Society to take over Co-op Bank in January November 28, 2024 Regulators have given the green light for Coventry Building Society to acquire The Co-operative Bank in January as consolidation sweeps through Britain’s mid-sized banking sector. The two lenders said on Thursday that the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority had approved the £780m deal, which was agreed in May. The takeover [...]
Monzo names new finance chief in hint at listing plans November 26, 2024 Monzo has appointed former Nubank executive Tom Oldham to be its chief financial officer as the digital challenger bank hinted at its IPO ambitions.
After fining Metro Bank and Starling, which challenger bank will the FCA target next? November 13, 2024 The Financial Conduct Authority has signalled that it is ready to take a hard line against challenger banks for financial crime failings after dishing out hefty fines to young lenders.
Sainsbury’s sells Argos credit cards for £720m in financial services retreat October 31, 2024 Sainsbury’s has struck a deal to sell its Argos credit card portfolio for roughly £720m as the supermarket withdraws further from financial services to focus on retail.
The Notebook: Starmer leading like a civil servant isn’t working October 14, 2024 And it is leading to dangerous, unwanted and undemocratic policymaking – like the introduction of bank spying powers, writes Silkie Carlo This weekend marked 100 days of the new Labour government – a period of deliberate doom and gloom rather than honeymoon. As I wrote in my Notebook for this paper upon his election, Sir [...]
Monzo set for £4.5bn valuation in employee share sale October 10, 2024 Monzo is launching a secondary share sale that is set to value the digital challenger bank at £4.5bn, City AM has learned.
Starling Bank fined £29m for ‘shockingly lax’ financial crime controls October 2, 2024 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined digital challenger bank Starling £28.96m for failings related to its financial crime controls that the City regulator called "shockingly lax".