By: Samuel Norman

Senior City Reporter Samuel is a Senior City Reporter covering banking and fintech as well as stories on capital markets and economics. He also leads on City AM's morning liveblog from 7am everyday. He has previously written for the Daily Mail and The i Paper and worked for Sky News as an election stringer. He enjoys writing in-depth analysis of major blue-chip firms and start-ups and also industry trends. He can be contacted at samuel.norman@cityam.com and posts on LinkedIn and X at x.com/samnormanwrites.

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Moneybox’s wealth focus helps treble inflows to record high

August 21, 2025

Moneybox secured its second consecutive year of profitability in 2024 after swathes of new customers poured billions into the firm. The investment platform‘s net inflows more than trebled to £5.8bn, from £1.7bn the year prior – a jump of over 241 per cent. Assets under management also more than doubled to £11.7bn as the fintech’s [...]
Atom chair: Big banks don’t know their role in economic growth

August 20, 2025

The chair of digital bank Atom has slammed Britain’s banking giants for failing to drive the country’s economic ambitions. Lee Rochford, who had tenures at Virgin Money, RBS and BNP before Atom, said it was “increasingly unclear what role [top banks] are playing in driving better customer outcomes or supporting UK economic growth”. Chancellor Rachel [...]
Databricks rides AI boom to $100bn after new funding

August 20, 2025

Analytics platform Databricks has sealed a fresh funding round that is set to catapult its valuation over $100bn. The data and AI heavyweight has signed a term sheet for Series K Funding – a type of advanced, late-stage financing – which is expected to close shortly. Whilst details of the raise have not been disclosed [...]
OSB’s profit plunges due to falling interest rates

August 20, 2025

OneSavings Bank (OSB) recorded a hefty hit to profit for the first half of 2025 as lower interest rates took a chunk out of the group’s bottom line. The London-listed firm posted a 20 per cent decline in profit before tax, which fell to £192.3m in the first half. Net interest income (NII) fell five [...]
How the banking net zero fantasy ran out of gas

August 20, 2025

Over the past year, the world’s biggest banks‘ net zero enthusiasm has quickly and quietly dried up. Top lenders have backtracked, diluted or outright abandoned their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The return of President Donald Trump has been highlighted as a turning point for green finance with firms across the financial industry turning sour [...]
FTSE 100 banks add £80bn in market value this year

August 19, 2025

Shares in the UK’s top FTSE 100 banks, Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds and HSBC have all hit decade highs this year, producing more than £80bn in market value. The banking sector is the second-best performing FTSE 100 sector this year with a return of 37 per cent, second only to the defence sector. The FTSE 100’s [...]
Starling Bank snaps up UK fintech firm in small business push

August 19, 2025

Starling Bank has snapped up its UK fintech peer Ember in a bid to ramp up its services for small business customers. The London-based firm said as part of the takeover, Ember’s tax and bookkeeping software will be built into Starling’s app and online bank. The deal, which Starling did not disclose the price of, [...]
Monzo to follow Revolut and Klarna with launch of mobile service

August 19, 2025

Monzo has become the latest fintech darling to expand its lifestyle reach with the firm exploring the development of mobile phone services. The London-based firm is looking to offer a Monzo-branded service to its over 12 million in account holders. The service would follow rival Revolut issuing plans in April to enter the mobile market [...]
Close Brothers shares downgraded despite motor finance win

August 18, 2025

Analysts have slapped a downgrade on Close Brothers stock despite the bank’s motor finance win last month at the Supreme Court. The FTSE 250-listed bank’s stock rating was lowered to ‘Sector Perform’, down from previous ‘Outperform’ expectations. Close Brothers shares were down over four per cent in early trading to 494.80. It comes after the [...]
Standard Chartered shares struggle to rebound after US lawmaker triggered $3bn sell-off

August 18, 2025

Shares in Standard Chartered inched higher on Monday, but failed to fully recover from a dramatic sell-off at the end of last week that was triggered by a United States congresswoman. The bank’s stock nudged up by one percent as markets opened, reaching 1,319.50. But, this remained far below the 1,407 price point prior to [...]

London Broncos raid Super League club ahead of hopeful top flight return

London Broncos raid Super League club ahead of hopeful top flight return

Inside City’s latest Irish pub: London’s poshest Guinness served here

By: Samuel Norman

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