Contributors
Bond Dickinson has advised Atom Bank, the UK’s first digital bank, in the lead up to its official launch – announced today. A team led by Bond Dickinson corporate partners, Simon Watts and Ben Butler, has been involved in the creation of Atom Bank from the start advising on regulatory, commercial and funding aspects – including a strategic partnership with BBVA.
Atom Bank announced today that its regulatory restriction has been lifted, and its banking app has gone live after the licence was granted just over nine months ago. The app will be made available to everyone who has pre-registered their interest through the Atom Bank website.
Since its creation in April 2014, Atom Bank has raised in excess of £135m in capital through the support of a group of over 100 private and institutional investors. Led by CEO Mark Mullen and Chairman Anthony Thomson, Atom Bank was first granted a restricted licence in June 2015 and today brings a full unrestricted licence to offer personal and business banking services.
Simultaneously, Atom Bank will be offering secured lending to SME businesses, available through a number of specialist business intermediaries.
During 2016, Atom Bank will be unveiling a further range of products and continuous app enhancements, with a phased roll-out of services throughout the year. By the end of 2016, customers will have access to fixed term savings, current accounts, overdrafts, debit and credit cards, instant access savings and residential mortgages, all serviced via the app.
Anthony Thomson, Founder and Chairman of Atom Bank, said: "The team has achieved something that simply hasn’t been done before - we believe we have built a bank in record time, and we’re not planning to stop here. It is not a simple task, and having an amazing team working hard to deliver the seemingly impossible has been crucial. We are all fully committed to continuing to innovate and deliver a transparent way of banking that turns the old world on its head.”
"We have been delighted by the responsive and pro-active approach Bond Dickinson have taken throughout the exciting developments at Atom Bank. They have supported us every step of the way and acted as integrated members of the Atom Bank team."
Ben Butler, Corporate Partner, who led the team advising Atom Bank, comments:
"This is a very exciting time for Atom Bank. The UK financial services world is evolving at a rate of knots due to the demands by consumers for creative digital solutions to busy lives. Atom Bank's innovative proposition will have a big impact. We are delighted to have advised Anthony, Mark and the rest of the Atom team from inception to launch.”
Customers interested in joining Atom Bank can visit www.atombank.co.uk to register their details.
Atom Bank's app offers a completely new way to bank, using face and voice biometrics to log-in to the app, with paper-free account opening in just a few taps. Backed up by a Durham-based customer support team, available all day every day, Atom Bank provides intuitive technology, competitive pricing and is dedicated to ensuring customers get what they genuinely need from their bank, delivered in an engaging and simple way.
Bond Dickinson has one of the UK's largest and most experienced financial institutions practices, and supports a wide range of retail and investment banking clients across each of the UK's major financial centres. In addition to providing banks and financial institutions with corporate fundraising advice, Bond Dickinson's financial institutions team is particularly adept at assisting clients in relation to fintech and banking technology projects including IT mobilisation, payments and transfers, lending and financing, wealth management, insurance, data analytics and regulatory compliance.
