RE: MColl’s1 Sep 2024 12:21
Clyde Blowers Capital, the investment vehicle founded by McColl, had been working alongside the Alba Bank team to secure the licence and led the capital-raising for the bank. Other notable backers include former Stagecoach head Sir Brian Souter, F1 driver David Coulthard and David Moulsdale, chairman and CEO of Optical Express.
McColl says: “We have sufficient capital in place to see us well through next year and into the following year.”
The bank plans to operate initially from hubs in Glasgow and London, which will be augmented by commercial offices in regions across the UK and McColl describes its approach as high-touch, high-tech.
“We’re determined to reintroduce the idea of relationship bankers, involving a human being who you can sit at the table with and say: ‘This is what we’re trying to achieve – how best can we do it?’
“And we will be using IT that means we’ll be able to react very quickly to applications and inquiries, using all the advantages of digital banking.”
The bank is partnering with fintech company Mambu’s Saas (Software as a Service) cloud banking platform to manage its lending services.
Last month, it announced a new partnership with ClearBank, which uses real-time clearing and embedded banking to manage payments for its customers.
“With new technology and Artificial Intelligence there’s a huge amount of value in the information we can provide to customers to help them improve their business and make it stronger with a more competitive cost base – which in turn makes it better for the bank that is lending to them.”
It’s a similar model to that employed by Judo Bank in Australia, which officially became a bank in 2019 and is already directly challenging the big four banks in the country, according to its CEO Joseph Healey – who McColl says has been very helpful in his journey to obtain a banking licence.
His insistence on the need for a challenger bank aimed at meeting SME needs has been impelled by a withering assessment of what he believes to be the traditional banks’ failure to support these companies in the wake of the banking crisis.
“The skills that define a good business banker have progressively been lost to the industry. It was clear to me that that SMEs were unloved, undervalued and underserved.”
Alba Bank, he says, will address a growing recognition across the government, the British Business Bank, the PRA (Prudential Regulation Authority) and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) that SMEs need more support.
“They’re absolutely critical to the economic health of the country. A pure play bank that is focused on supporting SMEs will achieve superior customer service and superior economics”.
Alba Bank is forging relationships with Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish National Investment Bank: “We’re leveraging all the help that’s available to support growing
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