GB Bank has received its banking licence and will begin trading in 2022
GB Bank, a ‘champion for the North’ challenger bank created to support property developers in underserved regions of the UK, has partnered with global IT solutions provider Persistent Systems to build its digital-first IT infrastructure and support the bank’s ongoing operations.
Persistent Systems has built the bank’s bespoke architecture using its flexible ‘digital mosaic’ approach, allowing GB Bank to cherry-pick the core component technologies it needs to provide exceptional tailored services for customers.
GB Bank is dedicated to meeting a long overdue need for property development finance across the North East, Yorkshire and the North West of England. Its ambition is to lend £3 billion over five years, building a £1 billion plus balance sheet, enabling the bank to fund almost 20,000 homes and several million square feet of office space, supporting the creation of over 100,000 jobs.
To deliver on this promise, GB Bank’s strategy is to provide outstanding customer service, delivered by technology-enabled relationship managers. Instead of relying on legacy systems, the UK’s newest challenger bank is committed to building an ecosystem of solutions, including payment and reporting features which can be integrated or replaced dynamically in response to the changing demands of a growing business. GB Bank has carefully selected technology solutions providers, including Mambu, OutSystems and AWS to ensure the best quality features are implemented. Persistent is helping the bank to seamlessly integrate them all.
Stephen Lancaster, CEO at GB Bank, commented: “Accessing finance still remains a challenge for many developers and it’s our ambition to make that a much easier, more straightforward process.
“We want to give our customers the support and resources they need and deserve, and so it has been vital to surround ourselves with a network of skilled partners to help us bring the bank to life.
“To ensure success at every stage, we needed a systems integrator with a proven track record of integrating a flexible, composable infrastructure. In what has been a significant investment for GB Bank, the team at Persistent has lent their skill and experience to turn our vision into operating reality. Persistent’s track record in working with challenger banks and its understanding of how to design and develop a robust digital infrastructure has been central to us getting to this point.”
Rohit Bhosale, Digital Bank Specialist at Persistent Systems, said: “Challenger banks such as GB Bank are hugely important to the evolving financial landscape as they provide a simple and specialised service to niche markets, such as the Northern property developers GB Bank will support.
“Our digital mosaic approach ensures the complexity of building the IT infrastructure translates into the simplicity and flexibility needed by the bank, allowing it to deliver excellent customer service, underpinned by a sophisticated and flexible technical platform.”
