Finance Awards 2021

21 | Finance Awards 2021 A new bank serving small and medium sized businesses, Recognise Bank has made a name for itself with commercial lending and personal savings that prioritise relationships and trust. Wishing to buck the trend of current high street banks that make businesses jump through all manner of hoops, usually totally remotely and without proper support, Recognise Bank aim to show entrepreneurs, small business owners and property investors that there is a better way to bank, one offered by people who will be right by their side every step of the way. Recognise Bank, ‘a new bank for small businesses’, prides itself on offering lending services including commercial lending, bridging loans, professional practice loans, and professional buy-to-let loans, planning to expand these services further in the future to include business savings. Recognise Bank has grown in stature for the client-focused and empathic way it works to offer these services. Its currently offers FSCS-protected savings accounts for personal savers, which immediately hit the Best Buy tables, drawing thousands of customers with its competitive rates and great service. Recognise is one of only a few banks to become fully authorised since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Its mission is to offer personal-style banking, developing close relationships with the businesses who bank with it, so that it can understand the borrowing needs and financial circumstances of every borrower. This ensures that Recognise knows exactly how to support their customers’ needs. Recognise Bank’s relationship managers operate out of regional hubs in London, Best SME Bank 2021 Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds, offering on the ground support to its customers. This approach, along with the use of cutting- edge technology, is what has enabled the bank to establish itself so quickly and generate a pipeline of over £1 billion worth of lending applications. It truly bucks the trend of form-filling or frustrating call centre experiences that firms so often face. Describing its approach to technology and innovation as a “Lego Bank”, Recognise has partnered with some of the world’s leading fintech providers to create a unique technology eco-system. It has partnered with Mambu to uses its cloud-based banking platform, as well as the nCino banking system, to create a process that enables quick lending decisions, giving SME customers fast access to their funds. This advanced approach uses technology to enhance its relationship approach rather than replace it, with loan management teams and regional underwriters bringing their expertise to provide quick decisions on loan applications. The bank has executed on its business plan in record time, receiving it Authorisation with restrictions (AwR) in November 2020, and was granted full authorisation only ten months later in September 2021. This followed a successful fundraising round with increased support from existing investors, meaning that Recognise met the funding requirements set by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). This was a major milestone for Recognise because it meant its deposit restrictions were lifted and it could start offering personal savings accounts, which it did within two days. Its first range of products were popular with savers and hit the best buy tables, generating millions of pounds in savings deposits. In November is launched its Professional Buy- To-Let loan for landlords and investors with four properties or more, including a tie-up with property-tech innovator, Rent Chief, which gives landlords and investors access to a range of investment and research tools. It ended 2021 with a lending application pipeline worth more than £1 billion, with plans to launch new SME lending products and services in 2022, as well as a range of business savings accounts – this is especially important to SMEs who earn pitiful interest on their cash surpluses and savings in traditional bank accounts offered by the mainstream banks. Recognise Bank looks sets to go from strength to strength in 2022 as it brings on new products and embraces technology even further, developing innovations and support for the UK’s vital small business sector. Company: Recognise Bank Contact: Paul Beadle paul.beadle@ recognisebank.co.uk Website: www.recognisebank.co.uk Nov21039