During the 2014/15 fiscal year, the BoE gave the go ahead for five new banks. This year, it’s considering another 25, at least one of which, Atom Bank, has received the go ahead to proceed.
There’s still much work to be done before the bank goes online. Not only has their IT framework got to meet rigorous standards. They’re also still to accrue the full £75M in capital investment required in the UK to launch. But that may not be long in coming.
Atom has some heavy hitters behind it already, lending support to the founders:
- Paul Pindar (Capita);
- Jeremy Middleton (Homeserve);
- Neil Woodford (fund manager and vociferous woe-betider of traditional bank shares);
- and Jim O’Neill (Goldman Sachs) amongst them.
If investment had a FIFA World Cup equivalent, that line up would be Germany!
Who are the founders?
As much as the pledged shareholders know a bit about investment, the founders also know what it takes to make a successful online bank.
Anthony Thomson, the bank’s chairman, held a similar position at challenger Metro Bank. Again, the focus there was on servicing customers, opening longer hours and seven days a week.
That ethos, albeit through an app, will run on through the Atom Bank brand.
And his co-founder, Mark Mullen, once upon a time headed up First Direct. First Direct being HSBC’s bank in the cloud.
With a duo like that heading up the service, it’s no wonder so many names are in the hat with them.
Why will Atom Bank be different?
First and foremost, the bank will be fresh: IT designed for a mobile-driven consumer base.
Its apps and interfaces will be built as the primary input, not an afterthought.
The overheads of banking on Britain’s High Streets? Eradicated!
And now that they have their full license to trade, Atom Bank can concentrate on delivering that service.
What you won’t see is a presence on the High Street
Their banking will be mobile-led, through an app on your smartphone or tablet. But there are talks of a desktop suite to follow.
There’s a key reason Atom is going the app-first route, rather than tackling desktop first. In March, 10½ million per day logged into their account(s) via a mobile device.
10½M is almost a million more than customers who logged on using “traditional” online banking. It’s eight times more than the estimate for total transactions carried out in-branch per day (based on 2014 figures).
What’s important for the eventual consumer and the investor alike is that both digital platforms continue to grow in popularity.
No queues, no holding on to speak to someone in India, no sacrificing your lunch hour to pay a bill. Online, you can do all of your everyday banking, even more convenient on your smart device for banking on the fly.
If traditional banks thought they were safe from competition, they’ll need to think again. Digital banks will be a virtual reality and up and Atom very soon.