“Can a big UK high-street bank build a credible standalone digital-first SMB banking brand — and use it to defend the freelancer/sole-trader segment from Tide, Starling and Revolut Business?”
Mettle was launched in 2018 by RBS (now NatWest Group) as a standalone SME digital banking brand, built in partnership with consultancy 11:FS and initially riding PrePay Solutions' e-money licence rather than being a bank itself. After a fractious reboot in 2019 that saw the 11:FS-linked interim CEO exit, NatWest brought development in-house and repositioned Mettle as its digital business account arm for freelancers, sole traders and small limited companies — now marketed as 'Mettle by NatWest' and folded into NatWest Group's banking licence and app ecosystem, tightly integrated with NatWest-owned FreeAgent for accounting and tax.
Mettle discloses National Westminster Bank Plc (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Mettle does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through National Westminster Bank Plc (in-house).
Mettle integrates with FreeAgent.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Mettle's stack: Banking / BaaS (National Westminster Bank Plc (in-house)); Accounting (FreeAgent).
Mettle is founded in 2017 and headquartered in United Kingdom.
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