Member Article

Atom Bank could work with North East SMEs says Anthony Thomson

The founder of the UK’s first digital bank, Atom, which is to be based in the North East, says he needs to work with “the best” in the supply chain - including North East companies.

Speaking to Bdaily following his appearance at this week’s Entrepreneurs’ Forum Conference, former Metro Bank man Anthony Thomson said the bank is keen to work with North East firms who can provide world class technology and services to the ground-breaking bank.

During his address to regional businesspeople, the finance entrepreneur also revealed that Atom will use biometrics, including fingerprint, retina and voice recognition, and scrap outdated security passwords.

Mr Thomson told Bdaily: “We’ve got to find the most talented providers in everything we do. Where those people are in the North East - we’re going to work with them.

“We’re fortunate in that the region boasts a wealth of top class SMEs - particularly in the digital sector - and that’s going to be really useful for Atom.

“Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas, and we can learn from anybody.”

Newcastle-raised Thomson also said North East firms would be the first to be offered lending from Atom, before the brand’s business products are rolled out across the rest of the country.

The challenger bank is expected to bring 300 jobs to the region and will be underpinned by Thomson’s mantra: “culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Marrying a thirst for great customer service with a technology driven banking platform, Atom aims to be the first mover in mobile banking in the UK.

Thomson explained: “The challenge is not creating a really great front-end user interface. We can do that, and so can the 300-strong dedicated team at RBS. The real challenge is in connecting that with back office technology. That’s where we have the upper hand over the banks.

“Pretty much without exception, every UK high street bank has terrible IT systems. Billions of pounds is spent maintaining old fashioned systems, and that’s one of the reasons why their cost base is so high. It’s a myth that there’s no money in retail banking.

“For the traditional operators, building this really good front end and then trying to plug it into their existing systems is like putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.”

Thomson recently poached North East LEP director, and former Treasury man, Ed Twiddy, who will be installed as chief operating officer at Atom.

Thomson explained: “Part of Ed’s role will be to ensure that we’ve got a formal innovation process, one where we’re scanning geographically and across sectors, looking for great ideas.

“From the outset we’re going to have a disproportionately large R&D operation with substantial budget, for a business of our size.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .