Recognise Financial Services, the latest challenger brand taking aim at the SME sector in the UK, will apply for its banking license next month.
In 2018, SME finance house City of London Group acquired Echo Financial Services as a vehicle to create a new bank for the "retail and business deposits market".
The new outfit is being led by Jason Oakley, previously Metro Bank, MD, Commercial, with industry veteran Philip Jenks onboard as chairman. Mambu and nCino have been brought in as technology partners.
Once authorised as a bank by the Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, Recognise plans to target the "vital but underserved" SME lending market, promising personal service through dedicated relationship managers.
City of London Group says it is also planning to raise new equity to finance the Recognise business.
Says Oakley: "I am very proud of the team’s effort in reaching the formal application stage. Our objective remains unchanged, to bring a fresh new face to the UK SME banking market in 2020 built on very solid foundations and with an exciting future."