ClearBank has announced the appointment of David Samper as group chief financial officer (CFO).

Samper joins the firm from Newcastle Building Society, where he held the role of CFO for over six years.

He led a transformative growth strategy that doubled the Society’s assets and delivered the successful merger with Manchester Building Society.

Samper also worked at Sainsbury’s bank for six years and held various senior roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland over a decade.

He has over 30 years of leadership experience across strategic finance, M&A, and business transformation.

In his new role, ClearBank said Samper will lead the organisation through its international expansion strategy and next stage of European growth.

He succeeds Mark Fairless, who was appointed as group chief executive officer in March.

“I'm thrilled to have someone of David's experience and calibre join the business - his deep expertise across finance, strategy and regulation, spanning both public and private sectors, brings tremendous strength to our leadership team,” Fairless said. “As we scale to unlock our clients’ potential, his contribution will be key to ClearBank’s next phase of international growth."

The appointment of Samper comes after ClearBank recently secured a Credit Institution Licence from the European Central Bank, under the supervision of De Nederlandsche Bank, marking a key milestone in the bank’s internationalisation strategy.

In April, the bank reported a pre-tax loss of £4.4 million in its first group financial results, with the company blaming costs related to its European expansion.

In a statement for the financial year ending 31 December 2024, the bank said that the loss was also due to the implementation of a new group structure and the shift away from interest fee income.

Launched in 2017, ClearBank provides an API to financial institutions for regulated banking infrastructure and real-time clearing access. It serves clients such as Revolut, Tide, Chip, TrueLayer, Coinbase, Raisin and Airwallex.

The bank has passported into 15 European markets in the past year, with group fee-based income having increased 63 per cent to £53.3m in 2024.

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