In January, retail giant House of Fraser made an initial commitment to invest £35m in Tandem Bank, subject to preconditions being met, with the bank receiving an initial £6m from Fraser Financial Services Limited in December.

However, Tandem has now revealed that the planned second wave of investment will not transpire due to the increasing limitations placed on Chinese firms investing money abroad.

House of Fraser is currently owned by the Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group.

In a blog post, Tandem Bank said: “As a result, we have decided to pause our plans to offer savings accounts to customers in the short term.

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“This will not delay our launch to the market, with the app – which will allow customers to view all their money in one place and optimise their finances – still launching to the public in the coming months followed by credit cards later this year, subject to regulatory approval.

“We will add saving accounts and current accounts back into the range of services we provide as soon as we feel the time is right for our customers and our business.”

Fraser Financial Services remains an investor as a result of the initial wave of funding.

Tandem added that plans to roll out financial services products to House of Fraser’s customer base remained a priority for both the retailer and the challenger bank.

Tandem added: “Our determination to reduce the stress people feel in managing their money is as strong today as it has ever been.”

This announcement follows news that Tandem Bank CEO Peter Herbert had stepped down at the end of February, with founder Ricky Knox (pictured above) taking over the role.