Set to open its doors in autumn 2017, ClearBank will serve financial services providers, FCA-regulated businesses and fintech companies that require access to UK payment systems and core banking technology.

Among those leading the bank will be CFO Marc Jenkins, ex-finance director for corporate and commercial banking at RBS; and Charles McManus, former CFO of RBS Ulster Bank, who joins as CEO.

The news follows a £25m investment in ClearBank from PPF Group and CFFI Ventures, in addition to funding from its founding management team.

Nick, who will now serve as executive chairman at ClearBank, said: “There are thousands of new fintech start-ups and challenger banks improving choice, but the industry will never truly move forward while it's constrained by the challenges of legacy operational structures.

“ClearBank was built specifically to create competition and aims to change the market dynamics radically.

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"This represents a substantial boost to the UK economy delivering better operational processes without any impact on the way that commerce is operated in the country.”

Nick cited figures from the Cruickshank Report, which estimated that a new competitor clearing bank could save between £2bn-3bn from the annual costs that are paid for transactional banking in the UK.

The bank – which claims to be the only institution ever to join all UK payment schemes at once – now aims to boost competition by making transaction banking faster and more cost effective than ever before.

Prior to ClearBank’s launch, the UK boasted four principal clearing banks: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS.

However, unlike these larger institutions, ClearBank will not offer services direct to the consumer.

The institution will be the first clearing bank to have been authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority since its creation in 2013.

Simon Kirby MP, economic secretary to the Treasury, added: "I am clear that UK financial services should be the most competitive and innovative in the world, which is why we are creating the right environment for new banks to enter the market.

"That is why I am so pleased to see ClearBank launch today – it will play an important role [in] helping challenger banks access the services they need to do business, so they can compete effectively with the big players and deliver the benefits of greater choice and value for consumers and businesses."