David Maclean, finance director of Metro Bank, has resigned in order to take up the role of CFO at digital challenger Revolut.
He quit Metro Bank just a week after the firm reported a pre-tax profit fall of 84%following an accounting blunder in January; commercial clients withdrew £2 billion of deposits after the firm unveiled it had underestimated the amount of shock-absorbing capital it held.
Meanwhile, since its launch in 2015, the rival online bank Revolut has soared to become a prime name among European fintechs, now boasting almost six million customers. The startup, which has a Lithuanian banking licence, has raised north of $336m in funding and is valued at $1.7bn.
Maclean’s move follows several new additions in recent months: former Goldman Sachs Europe boss Michael Sherwood joined the Revolut board and former co-chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen Martin Gilbert is confirmed as incoming chairman.
Founders Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko have aimed to strengthen Revolut’s corporate governance and customer service levels following rapid growth, yet this year the company had the highest number of customer complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service for any digital bank.
Additionally, it has come under fire from former employees on account of the toxic work atmosphere and faced questioning from regulators over its money-laundering controls.