Atom Bank has signed a deal with Plaid to introduce Open Banking and payment initiation services to small business customers.
The first iteration of the technology will begin with offering business owners a streamlined loan application journey and speedier decisions.
Atom Bank has been a previous recipient of a £10 million grant from the Banking Competition Remedies Board to inject competition into the small business banking market. It is also one of a small number of banks to offer secured loans to new, and existing, customers through the Government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Initially Plaid will be working with Atom as part of the bank’s secured business lending process for underwriting both CBILS and non-CBILS applications. The app-only bank will also be using Plaid’s Payment Initiation capabilities to streamline fee payments.
Open Banking capabilities will eventually be rolled out to underpin new direct to market smart savings and lending propositions, says Edward Twiddy chief customer officer at Atom Bank.
“We’ve tripled the business lending on our balance sheet in the last 12 months whilst making big improvements to our propositions and services, and with partners such as Plaid on side we are on a really strong trajectory for continued growth in the years ahead," he adds.