OakNorth Bank has been granted full authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to offer retail deposit products.
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div>OakNorth Bank has been granted full authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to offer retail deposit products.
In response, the lender has launched two savings accounts to support an ambitious plan to lend £1bn to SMEs over the next five years.
Rishi Khosla, CEO at OakNorth, said: “Ever since the seed was planted for OakNorth several years ago, we have worked tirelessly to create a bank that specifically meets the needs of small business owners. Savers play a pivotal role in this.
“Bringing them these accounts today is an important step forward for us as we begin to shake-up lending to smaller businesses.
“The government has recognised the need to finance small businesses, but is ending the Funding for Lending scheme in January 2016.”
OakNorth says the FCA and PRA authorisations come at a time when small business lending is down £5.2bn compared with last year.
It is aiming to offer flexible financing options to SMEs that are secured against multiple collateral types, not just property.
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