Griffin Receives Authorization to Operate as a Bank

After ten gruelling months of waiting, Griffin, a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider, has received authorization from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as a bank, albeit with certain restrictions.

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This milestone means Griffin can now begin holding a limited amount of deposits and offer payment services.

Griffin’s Unique Value Proposition

Griffin’s BaaS platform is unique in that it offers fintech companies access to all of the UK’s payment rails, bank accounts, debit cards, an integrated ledger, and customer onboarding automation.

This is in contrast to many consumer or SME challengers.

David Jarvis, CEO and co-founder of Griffin, remarked, “Becoming a bank is testament to the determination of our team, who have been tirelessly building a modern core banking system, a resilient operational backbone, and a robust compliance framework. This will enable us to deliver an exceptional banking platform for the UK fintech community.”

Griffin’s Pre-Banking Licence Progress

Before receiving authorization to operate as a bank, Griffin had already made solid progress with a partnership with 11:FS to help launch its Verify customer onboarding solution and a first customer win with embedded finance Liberis.

Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis, said, “Griffin’s proposition is to offer a suite of banking products that will help embedded finance platforms like Liberis deliver more value to small businesses and differentiate our proposition in a competitive market. We’re thrilled to be an early adopter of Griffin.”

The company has raised £12.5m in a round led by Notion Capital during 2022’s challenging funding environment and raised £6.5m in 2020 from EQT Ventures.

Final Thoughts

Griffin’s authorization to operate as a bank marks a significant milestone for the company and the UK fintech community.

With its unique value proposition, Griffin is poised to deliver exceptional banking products to fintech companies and help them differentiate themselves in a highly competitive market.