Alba becomes Scotland’s first ever bank for SMEs

Alba is delighted to receive its UK banking licence (Authorised with Restrictions or ‘AWR’) from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) following a significant investment

This paves the way for the Alba, to become Scotland’s first ever bank focused exclusively on serving businesses throughout Scotland and the UK regions.

Over the last year, Alba has worked closely with both the PRA and FCA to develop its proposition, processes and systems, and the recent investment has allowed the team to proceed with confidence in securing a banking license with restrictions and, as a result, become Scotland’s maiden fully operational, digital-first SME-focused bank.

Alba is led by an experienced team who hold an intimate knowledge of the banking sector and share a passion to transform small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customer banking, combining a relationship-driven banking model with its state-of-the-art technology platforms.

Rod Ashley, CEO of Alba, commented: “This is unquestionably a landmark moment in our journey so far. Firstly, I’m incredibly proud of the team who have steadfastly believed in our mission of launching a new SME-focused bank and have worked tirelessly to build a comprehensive business plan which has allowed us to receive our AwR’ license from the regulators.

I would also like to thank our loyal investors who have backed our proposition and from day one realised there was a clear gap in the market for a digital-first bank which places an emphasis on both understanding and building lasting relationships with the businesses it supports.

Despite being the backbone on the British economy, businesses throughout UK have for years been underserved by the banking industry but, with our unique proposition, we believe we are different and can’t wait to begin supporting these businesses to help develop their aspirations, grow and realise their potential.”

The significant investment secured in this funding round supports us past full launch and well into our initial trading plans.