Non-Traditional Banks Starting To Proliferate

Another banking start-up has gotten the green light from regulatory agencies in the UK.

This time, the start-up is Tandem, and it’s joining an ever-growing list of small start-ups that are promising traditional banking services through the end point of a smartphone.

“This morning we received news that Tandem has been granted authorisation by the Bank of England. Our bank will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)“, said Tandem’s co-founder, Ricky Knox, in a blog post.

Knox said Tandem’s mobile experience will save customers a “substantial” amount of money each year, as it will use big data and the latest mobile technology. He might have a point here because, as The Register explains here, these kinds of banks are free of the kind of legacy IT infrastructure that’s both slowed down banking’s big names and proved their Achilles heel.

“We believe there’s a new business model for banking, where the success of the bank is aligned to the success of its customers, meaning people get a bank that doesn’t just say it’s on their side, it truly is,” he said.

There are plenty of new banks appearing in the UK, following the similar, digital and mobile approach.

Others include Atom Bank, Starling, Mondo, Secco and Civilized Bank. Last year, 29 new banks submitted applications to offer services in the UK, The Register says. They must satisfy regulators at the Bank of England in order to operate.

In January Oracle announced new private bank Hampden & Co had picked Oracle’s Flexcube to provide its core banking platform.