UK mobile-only bank Kroo is set to start offering current accounts after securing a full banking licence.
Kroo's current product range - a prepaid debit card and app - enables customers to easily create groups with friends, track spending, and split and pay bills quickly and securely.
In the next few months, the firm will now offer its 23,000 customers the chance to migrate to a personal current account.
The full licence also means Kroo can offer depositors protection via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for up to £85,000 and provide its customers with overdrafts, loans and savings products.
Andrea De Gottardo, COE, Kroo, says: "The bar to be granted a UK banking licence is exceptionally high and I am incredibly proud of the team and our work in achieving this.
"This is one of the elements that will set us apart from most of our competitors in the FinTech industry, alongside our commitment to deliver innovative features and champion values our customers can identify with."
Kroo is positioning itself as a bank with a social conscious. The firm launched a customer tree-planting referral scheme in June 2021, has a board-level social conscience committee and has pledged to donate a percentage of its profits to social causes.
The company has now raised over £56m in equity funding since launch following five series of investment rounds.