“Can a purpose-built digital bank own the UK's established-SME banking relationship end-to-end — deposits, lending, and now embedded working capital?”
Allica Bank launched in 2019 with a UK banking licence specifically to serve established SMEs (5–250 employees), a segment the big UK banks had underserved. Under Richard Davies (ex-Revolut COO) from 2020, it built a full-stack digital business bank — commercial mortgages and asset finance first, then the Business Rewards current account in 2023 with embedded cross-border payments via Wise Platform. The 2025 Kriya acquisition pushed Allica into embedded finance and SME working-capital/PayLater, with a goal of £1B of working-capital lending by 2028 and 10% penetration of the UK established-SME market.
Allica Bank discloses ClearBank as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Allica Bank does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through ClearBank.
Allica Bank processes payments through Stripe. Disclosed money-movement rails: Faster Payments.
Allica Bank's lending and capital products are provided by Allica Bank Limited (in-house) and Kriya.
Allica Bank connects to bank accounts through Yapily.
Allica Bank uses Wise Platform for FX and cross-border payouts.
Allica Bank integrates with Xero, Sage, QuickBooks and FreeAgent.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 11 layers in Allica Bank's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe); Money movement (Faster Payments); Banking / BaaS (ClearBank); Card issuing (Thredd); Card network (Visa); Lending (Allica Bank Limited (in-house), Kriya, Commercial mortgages, Asset finance and 5 others); Open banking (Yapily); FX & payouts (Wise Platform); Accounting (Xero, Sage, QuickBooks and FreeAgent); Spend / AP (Allica Bank Limited (in-house)); Accounts Receivable (Kriya).
Allica Bank is founded in 2019 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
Allica Bank's acquisitions include Kriya (2025).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Allica Bank and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.