Recognise, a subsidiary of Britain’s City of London Group, has been awarded a restricted banking license by regulators in the U.K., the company announced, in a press release.
A full license could come as early as the first quarter of 2021, the release stated. The timeline is consistent with one City of London Group included in a slide deck on its website describing the licensing process.
Recognise was created in 2018 with a mandate to serve small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
We’d love to be your preferred source for news.
Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!
In an update published on the company’s website prior to the recent approval of a restricted license, City of London Group stated that an advantage of having a full license — one without restrictions — would be that “A U.K. banking license will allow access to the U.K.’s ($1.36 trillion) retail deposit market, a large and sustainable pool of low-cost funding.”
Phil Jenks, chairman of Recognise, said in the release announcing the awarding of the restricted banking license: “We know that 2020 has been overwhelmingly tough for [SMBs], so we are delighted that Recognise is now in a position to give the support that [SMBs] need to survive, grow and play their part in the recovery of the economy.
“… As a new entrant in the U.K. [SMB] banking market with no legacy book and the latest technology installed, Recognise is strongly placed to deliver on its relationship-based model and differentiated business plan. We have the experience and expertise at our disposal and believe we can play a major role in helping the U.K. small business sector get back on its feet.”
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
Michael Goldstein, Group CEO of City of London Group, added in the announcement: “This represents a major milestone for the Group in delivering the strategy set out in early 2018. U.K. entrepreneurs will play a key role in creating and supporting U.K. economic growth, and to do so they need a banking sector that is aligned to their needs and way of thinking.”
City of London Group has spent the last few years building a team to run the new bank and preparing its IT backbone, according to a July 2019 PYMNTS report.
Add as Preferred Source
