StreamBank receives full UK banking licence

By Bridging Loan Directory 14th February 2023

StreamBank has announced that it has now received approval from the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take deposits, after it was granted its full banking licence.

Born out of the bridging loan business conducted by ActivTrades, StreamBank aims to serve the specialist property market providing a range of short to medium term funding solutions initially in bridging and development finance together with commercial mortgages whilst also offering a range of competitively priced deposit products.

John Reed, Chair, StreamBank commented:

“Since the submission of our banking application in July 2021, I have been impressed by the smooth process we have navigated to get us to the point of securing our full banking licence.

I would like to thank both the PRA and FCA today for their guidance and support as we have built StreamBank and to the management team for all their hard work in getting us to where we are today.”

StreamBank will provide property finance solutions between £250,000 and £5 million, to support property developers, small and medium-sized businesses, individuals, and house builders, combining conventional product solutions with a practical common-sense approach that comes from the many years of experience across the team.

Steve Pateman, CEO of StreamBank, said:

“The specialist lending sector is now well established and whilst competitive with many strong market participants, there are opportunities for new banks that can respond quickly, with a hands on and common sense approach, finding innovative solutions to meet the needs of many property investors – both individuals and businesses – whether it be a bridge to support a house move or development finance or a longer term commercial mortgage, our aim is to find a solution that works for the customer, regardless of the complexity of the case.

Our hands-on approach allows us to respond quickly – being a small bank means that we have short lines of communication and decisions can be made as needed.

We combine technology with practical experience and our approach is ‘can do’ in philosophy and practice.”

In addition to supporting clients with specialist lending products StreamBank will be offering a range of saving products that offer consistently good rates.

Steve continued:

“It’s our ambition to provide a suite of savings products that offer customers flexible ways to save through Fixed term and Notice products while offering consistently competitive rates.

In the coming days, we are launching a 1 Year Fixed Term Bond for customers wishing to deposit between £1,000 to £100,000.”

The new bank is founded and owned by sole shareholder Alex Pusco:

“We are absolutely delighted to officially launch StreamBank.

Over the last few years, the team has worked incredibly hard to build a fully licenced bank from the ground up and to achieve today’s milestone is an incredibly proud moment for me and everyone involved in StreamBank.

Although our model and product set are nothing new to the banking market, I’m absolutely confident that the StreamBank experience, and our approach to finding a solution for customers’ will be what sets us apart.”

Deposits placed with StreamBank are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per depositor, per bank (£170,000 for joint accounts).

All savings products are available via the StreamBank saving platform and can be opened and funded digitally.