OneBanks Hub, the shared branch banking innovator, has made two key appointments to its leadership team as it prepares to scale up to a national roll-out of its kiosks later this year.
Louise Smith, the Chair of Innovate Finance, has joined the Board of OneBanks Hub as a non-executive director. Louise has extensive experience in the UK banking and fintech sector including at both NatWest and Barclays, and is a former Chief Digital Officer of Lloyd’s of London. Since 2016, she has served as the HM Treasury Fintech Envoy to Scotland.
On 1st August 2022, Marianne (“Mara”) Breen-Hart will become OneBanks Hub’s Chief Operating Officer. Mara joins from accountancy firm PwC, where she was chief of staff in the UK Risk business, responsible for strategy and execution. She was previously Director of Technology Data and Analytics at the firm. Prior to PWC, she spent more than 10 years as a technology and strategy consultant at Accenture.
A winner of the Technology and Digital Women of the Future Award in 2019, Mara grew up near to Kilwinning in North Ayrshire, the site of one of OneBanks Hub’s pilot shared banking kiosks.
Mara will be working alongside Duncan Cockburn (Founder & CEO), Andy Wilmot (CTO) and Tracey MacLennan (who joined in March as the new Head of People), as part of a significantly strengthened management team at OneBanks Hub.
OneBanks Hub currently operates three pilot kiosks in Co-op supermarkets in Scottish towns where there are no bank branches, offering local customers and businesses access to a range of vital everyday banking services. Having showcased these three live kiosks, it expects to participate in a tender process for a larger roll out of banking hubs for the major UK banks due to take place in the second half of 2022.
Jonathan Hughes, Chairman of OneBanks Hub said: “I am tremendously excited to welcome Louise and Mara to OneBanks Hub at this crucial time. Their experience in the digital transformation of financial services will be invaluable as we prepare to take a significant role in the provision of everyday banking services in the UK.”
Duncan Cockburn, Founder & CEO of OneBanks Hub said, “As we grow and mature, we need to have a first-class Board and management team, and bringing Louise and Mara on board will ensure that we have what we need to make the difference we know we can make. Their backgrounds in technology, innovation and delivery will prove invaluable as we enter the next exciting stage of our development.”
Louise Smith commented: “I have watched the development of OneBanks Hub with great interest and am excited to be joining such an innovative British business at such an exciting time in its development.”
Marianne Breen-Hart added: “I am really looking forward to helping Duncan and the OneBanks Hub team get to grips with the challenges ahead as the business moves beyond the current pilot phase and really starts to scale up. This is about seeing how technology can benefit the kind of people the financial services industry tends to overlook and help alleviate digital poverty.”