Loot Founder To Become Bó Chief Product Officer

After financial startup Loot reportedly went into administration in May, Loot Founder Ollie Purdue is reportedly becoming a part of a digital bank being developed by RBS-owned Natwest called Bó. Purdue is said to lead product development for the brand and become chief product officer, according to reports.

Purdue is also said to report to Mark Bailie, who is the CEO of Bó and was reportedly the “main champion for Loot within RBS” per one unnamed source. According to reports, Purdue is to be accompanied by other team members from Loot across marketing, product and design areas. As for Bó, the company is operating as a distinct unit from the legacy operations of RBS and created on a technology stack that is new.

At the same time, citing unnamed sources, the digital bank is nearly ready to go live: Almost 1,000 employees of RBS are said to be testing the product actively ahead of a public launch. The report also pointed out that Royal Bank of Scotland Group indirectly owned a 25 percent stake in Loot through an investment on the part of Bó. RBS had reportedly said in January that it had invested £2 million in the company.

The report comes as news surfaced in May that Loot had entered administration. It had reportedly run out of cash as a sale to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had failed to come to fruition. Other Loot investors included Rocket Internet’s GFC and Portag3 Ventures (Power Corporation’s corporate VC arm), among others.

The FinTech firm had approximately 250,000 registered accounts at the time of the May report as it headed into administration, with a mobile app and Mastercard offering. The neo-bank moniker came as Loot had been granted an electronic money license via a partnership with Wirecard, which is in turn regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.