OneBanx, the shared branch banking innovator, is launching the public phase of its £1.25m fund raise on Crowdcube, Europe’s crowdfunding platform.
Having shown that OneBanx’s shared branch concept works with three pilots in Central Scotland, the team is now “embarking on the next phase of plans to create a national network of kiosks that will ensure no community in the UK is left without access to cash or everyday banking services like deposits and bill payments.”
It has already “opened an Access to Cash Kiosk in partnership with TSB at a shopping centre in Nottingham and will shortly be unveiling two community kiosks with Newcastle Building Society.”
However, to really have any impact, OneBanx wants “to mobilize communities up and down the country to demand that the banks who have collectively closed more than 5000 branches since 2015 now club together to fund a OneBanx kiosk in their area.”
As part of the crowdfunding exercise, OneBanx has already “raised more than £1m in pre-funding towards its target of £1.25m with a pre-money valuation of £12.5m.” OneBanx is offering shares “equivalent to 9.04% of the company at a price of £15.06.”
To participate in the crowdfund, check here.
Duncan Cockburn, founder and CEO of OneBanx said:
“With over 5000 bank branches having closed in the UK since 2015, the need for what OneBanx can offer communities is greater than ever. We have had amazing support from our existing shareholders, but as a business rooted in serving communities, we want those communities and partners to have a real stake in our business as we expand and grow. Now that there are 10 banks committed to funding shared infrastructure and thousands of kiosks or similar needed across the UK, there is a real opportunity here to make a difference.”
As noted in the update, OneBanx, which claims to be “the future of high street banking, has developed a range of ways that personal and small business customers in financially-excluded communities can continue to access to face-to-face banking services including fully staffed low-cost, pop-up kiosks which can be located in shopping centers, railway stations and supermarkets, and smart ATMs more suitable for convenience stores and tube stations.”
In a world where banks are pulling out of high streets at an ever faster rate, the kiosks – along with OneBanx smart ATMs – are “designed to operate in locations such as supermarkets, shopping malls and railways stations, providing a safe, friendly environment where customers of any bank can withdraw or deposit notes and coins, and pay bills free of charge.”
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!