Metro Bank, the first full-service bank in more than 100 years, opened its first "stores" on July 29.

With a brand based on a retail model, Metro Bank offers customers greater convenience, including stores open seven days a week and bank cards issued on the spot. At the heart of its decisions is the industry-leading FICOTM Blaze Advisor business rules management system, which offers unparalleled flexibility and reliability. FICO Blaze Advisor is part of Metro Bank's originations system for personal loans, debit and credit cards and mortgages.

Using FICO's technology, Metro Bank can ensure that every originations decision is based on consistent criteria. With FICO Blaze Advisor, Metro Bank's risk and marketing teams will be able to change originations decision logic easily and rapidly. The system links to credit reporting agencies, anti-terrorist lists and other third-party data sources, and can also deploy multiple predictive models to assess customer risk, make product and pricing assignments, and stop fraudsters from getting Metro Bank accounts.

"We are changing the relationship people have with their bank, and the ability to make instant decisions is a part of the process," said Craig Donaldson, CEO for Metro Bank. "We chose FICO as our partner and FICO Blaze Advisor as our platform because it gives us the speed and risk controls we require to open accounts and issue cards faster than other banks. We had an aggressive launch schedule, and FICO met all their commitments."

"Metro Bank is an innovator in European banking," said Mike Gordon, Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa at FICO. "Their need for a fast, flexible decision management system perfectly matches the direction we have set for our technology. We look forward to working with them to create a powerful end-to-end customer management system."