Atom banks on £40m funding

ATOM BANK is aiming to raise more than £40million from investors before the end of the year, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The digital bank is backed by investment giants Toscafund Asset Management and Schroders, as well as Spanish banking behemoth BBVA.

It is understood the branchless bank, which is accessed using mobile phones, will tap existing shareholders as well as courting new investors.

The fundraisiwg is expected to be the last before the bank floats on the stock market

– which could happen as soon as next year.

Atom, headquartered in Durham, was one of the first mobile phone-based lenders to emerge alongside rivals including Monzo and Starling. The bank appointed American rapper Will.i.am as a board adviser and consultant in 2017 on a contract that ended last year.

Atom has reported its first monthly operating profit. It posted a loss for the full year to March of £36million, but one analyst said the bank could achieve its first annual operating profit in 2023.

The lender raised £40million in April in a move that slashed its £555 million value in half.

The bank offers savings accounts and loans. Its mortgage lending has just hit £3 billion. The bank recently launched a 1.5 per cent rate on its one-year fixed savings product.

Atom last night declined to comment.