“Can a fully-licensed UK/EU clearing bank out-compete EMI-based BaaS providers by offering deposit protection and direct scheme access as embedded APIs?”
Founded 2015 by WorldPay veteran Nick Ogden as the first new UK clearing bank in over 250 years, ClearBank built a cloud-native, API-first banking platform offering direct access to UK payment schemes (Faster Payments, BACS, CHAPS) plus FSCS-protected deposits — a deliberate alternative to EMI-based BaaS providers like Modulr and OpenPayd. The 2022 Apax round funded a shift from UK-only clearing to multi-currency embedded banking across Europe, with explicit plans for North America and APAC. Today the company positions itself as a full-stack embedded finance provider (accounts, payments, safeguarding, FX) for both regulated fintechs and non-financial brands.
ClearBank discloses ClearBank (in-house) as its banking provider, with ClearBank Limited (in-house) as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
ClearBank does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through ClearBank Limited (in-house).
ClearBank processes payments through UK Faster Payments (direct, self-operated), BACS (direct, self-operated), CHAPS (direct, self-operated), SEPA (direct, self-operated via ClearBank Europe) and T2 / EUR high-value (self-operated). Disclosed money-movement rails: SEPA and Faster Payments.
ClearBank uses ClearBank (in-house multi-currency / FX) for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 5 layers in ClearBank's stack: Payments / PSP (UK Faster Payments (direct, self-operated), BACS (direct, self-operated), CHAPS (direct, self-operated), SEPA (direct, self-operated via ClearBank Europe) and 1 other); Money movement (SEPA and Faster Payments); Banking / BaaS (ClearBank (in-house)); Sponsor bank (ClearBank Limited (in-house)); FX & payouts (ClearBank (in-house multi-currency / FX)).
ClearBank was founded by Nick Ogden and is founded in 2015, headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
ClearBank has raised £370M+ in total (latest round: PE Growth (Apax Partners, March 2022); valuation: Undisclosed (significant increase over £274M Dec 2021 valuation)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against ClearBank 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.