Atom Bank
“Can a digital-only, mobile-first UK bank build a durable business on secured lending and savings without a current-account product?”
Founded2013
HQNewcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
FoundersAnthony Thomson, Mark Mullen
Total raised£105M raised in 2022 alone; multiple prior rounds across 14-16 financing events
Latest round£30M (November 2022) from BBVA, Toscafund, Infinity Investment Partners
IndustryFintech / Neobank
The story
Atom Bank was founded in 2013 as the UK's first mobile-only challenger bank, receiving its full PRA banking licence in 2015. Unlike Monzo or Starling, Atom focused on savings and secured lending (mortgages and SME lending) rather than current accounts, positioning itself as a digital deposit-taking and lending bank. The company has repeatedly deferred IPO plans and continues to raise capital from strategic investors including BBVA to fuel its lending book.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
2013
Founded by Anthony Thomson and Mark Mullen in Newcastle· founding
2015
Granted full UK banking licence — first digital-only challenger bank to hold one· banking
2016
Launched mobile-first savings and mortgage products· banking
2022
Raised £105M across the year to fund lending growth and a future IPO· funding
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Atom Bank
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Atom Bank’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Atom Bank plc (in-house)
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
3 more providers across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.