The company was accredited by the British Business Bank as a CBILS lender in May 2020, enabling it to provide UK SMEs with term loans from £100,000 to £5m.

Coupled with 9% growth in the bank’s residential mortgages, Atom’s income from lending is on track to support its targeted return on equity of +24%.

During the first quarter of its 2022 financial year, Atom also reached £3bn of mortgage completions, passed £1bn of deposits into its instant saver product, grew total customer deposits 16% to £2.5bn, and delivered its first month of operating profit in June.

The bank said it is confident that it will be generating month-on-month operating profit later this year.

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Mark Mullen, CEO at Atom, said: “We have momentum — it’s been an outstanding quarter for Atom.  

“We have achieved several important milestones and continued to drive the growth of our savings and loans.  

“We have also maintained our reputation for exceptional service — a key focus for us in that it remains a challenging time for our customers, people, and the country as a whole.

“Atom achieved a monthly operating profit for the first time in the company’s history and we’re determined to accelerate further and faster both this year and next as we continue our journey towards sustainable profitability and IPO.”

The bank is set to continue its lending support to UK SMEs, having received its accreditation as a lender under the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) in May.

Through RLS, Atom will offer secured loans from £250,000 to £5m, subject to eligibility criteria, via its network of 200-plus independent brokers across the UK.

In addition, Atom has partnered with Funding Circle to provide £300m of new funding to small businesses.