OakNorth, a UK digital bank, says it has launched its business banking services, aimed at “helping mid-sized businesses (revenue of £1m-£100m) that are currently overlooked and underserved in the UK’s current financial landscape.”
OakNorth is authorized and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Launched in September 2015, OakNorth aims to become the go-to digital bank for scaling businesses “seeking fast, flexible debt finance up to tens of millions of pounds.”
To date, it’s lent over £10bn, “directly contributing to the creation of more than 40,000 new jobs and 29,000 new homes across the UK.”
Its customers include brands “such as Deliciously Ella, Ottolenghi, Z Hotels, Third Space, and The Heartwood Collection, and it supports businesses across a variety of sectors from healthcare and specialist education to hospitality and leisure and SME housebuilding.”
One of the core elements that define OakNorth’s unique approach to lending is “how it looks at the business world – rather than using broad assumptions to split the economy into a dozen or so sectors, it uses an analytical framework powered by vast commercial loan data, covering over 270 industries.”
This allows it to take “a highly detailed, data-driven, and forward-thinking approach to serving a range of different sectors and subsectors that other lenders often retract from.”
OakNorth is taking the same approach “when it comes to its new everyday business banking offering.”
Rather than overwhelming businesses with “a menu of products and features – many of which may be irrelevant to the business in question, OakNorth is taking them on the journey, directly working alongside Founders, CFOs, CEOs, and Directors in a phased Beta launch.”
The goal is to build something from the ground up, that scales “with entrepreneurs and their aspirations – businesses can sign up to a waiting list via this link.”
Cross-functional teams are prioritising “the real-life insight and data needed to make something with lasting value, not another option in a sea of apps.”
Each business will be assigned “a dedicated OakNorth Business Partner – someone they can call or email whenever they have a question.”
The Business Partner will “understand their business, their strategic goals, and provide tailored information on OakNorth’s products and services, rather than simply offering a loan or a savings account.”
Rishi Khosla, co-founder and CEO of OakNorth, commented:
“OakNorth’s mission is to serve and empower businesses in the Missing Middle, ensuring each and every one of them has the right tools, insights, and support at every stage of their growth journey with us. We know from the last eight years of serving our customers that they don’t feel their banking needs are being met by incumbents or other neobanks. They continue to be overlooked and underserved, despite the significant contribution they make to the economy and local communities in terms of productivity, innovation, job creation, and GDP growth. Given ongoing economic challenges, it is essential that these businesses have the right banking partner to support them, and we are excited to step up to fill this need.”