Just Loans Group to offer banking service this year

The lender revealed the news after it became a benefactor of ‘Project Rome’, which is lobbying for fairer access to payments infrastructure through fintech providers.

The campaign has been launched by the Emerging Payments Association (EPA) and is looking to build a long-term solution that provides fair and equal access, while paying due credit to founding banks.

On its formation in 2012, The Just Loans Group aimed to build a robust, scalable, Anti Money Laundering compliant process for on boarding corporate borrowers in the UK and eventually Europe.

John Davies, CEO of The Just Loans Group, said it had successfully met this challenge and wanted to expand the range of services it could provide but, as with other fintech providers, it faced a challenge to get fair and equal access to the UK’s payments infrastructure.

"Understandably this is controlled by the banks that over the years have created and heavily invested in the existing payments' system.

“However, we believe change is now needed as we believe innovation, competition and customer choice is being restricted.

“This is becoming even more important to our business as we are planning to launch our own banking service later this year."

Speaking about backing Project Rome, John added: "We are delighted to be investing in what I see as the most effective way of bringing about change by becoming a benefactor of the Emerging Payments Association’s Project Rome.

“This logically follows closely on the heels of the group becoming the first alternative commercial lender to become an associate member of the British Bankers' Association.”

The EPA represents 100 companies and organisations from across the payments ecosystem.

“The aim of Project Rome is to build a long-term solution that provides fair and equal access, while paying due credit to the founding banks,” said Tony Craddock, director general of the EPA.

“A key component of this is to convince regulators, the banks and the Bank of England that alternative payment providers can be trusted with access to the existing systems.”