CivilisedBank, a new branchless digital bank which uses a community-based local banker network, today announced that it has received its UK banking licence.

The licence from the Bank of England paves the way for CivilisedBank to build its infrastructure, with the firm looking launch to customers in early 2018.

Focused on the UK SME market and funded by retail savings, CivilisedBank will serve businesses through savings and loans, transaction banking, overdrafts, current accounts with deposits and foreign exchange.

CivilisedBank will use a network of local bankers working in communities and who are underpinned by online technology as a way to assist its customers.

The unique, branchless Local Banker network will help build one-to-one relationships with SMEs, without the high client volume per banker or the traditional costs associated with the existing High Street banks. Within five years CivilisedBank aims to have a local banker, as opposed to a branch, in every major town and city in the UK.

Chris Jolly, chairman of CivilisedBank, said: “We are reinventing traditional banking for businesses by bringing back one-to-one relationship banking to SMEs, enabled by the very latest technology – both online and mobile. We want to return to a civilised way of banking with personal service backed by effective technology without any legacy issues. CivilisedBank represents a cultural innovation in banking and a genuinely new approach in the UK market.

“The majority of the funding for the build phase has come from Warwick Capital Partners, a London-based investment manager. They have developed a very good understanding of our business model and we look forward to continuing what is already an excellent working relationship with them.”

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