Metro Bank is being sued by US software company Arkeyo over allegations that it leaked the company's coin counting technology to a rival firm.
Arkeyo has been pursuing Metro Bank for five years for damages relating to the alleged theft of its intellectual property, having first filed a civil suit in the US in 2017.
The company, which has now succeeded in getting a High Court hearing for its case, claims that it created the software for Metro’s 'magic money machines' more than a decade ago before it was given to competitor Saggezza.
Metro’s coin-counting machines, which remain in all bank branches, are designed for children to add up small change.
Akeyo claims that in 2016, Metro met with staff from Saggezza to “discuss how to duplicate the Arkeyo software to allow Metro to replace Arkeyo with Saggezza…as Metro’s software provider”.
Arkeyo claims that Saggezza asked Metro to provide a touchscreen computer loaded with the Arkeyo software.
In a statement, Metro Bank has previously said: “Metro Bank believes Arkeyo’s claims are without merit. Metro Bank is vigorously defending the claims and intends to challenge jurisdiction, venue, service and avail of other procedural grounds for dismissal of the suit.”