ClearBank and Tide granted £60 million from RBS Alternatives Remedies Package

ClearBank®, the UK's first new clearing bank in more than 250 years, in partnership with Tide, has today been granted £60 million from the RBS Alternative Remedies Package.

The grant is one of three from Pool A of the Capability and Innovation Fund that forms part of the £775 million package, backed by the UK Government, and overseen by Banking Competition Remedies Ltd.

ClearBank's next-generation infrastructure and Tide's market-leading proposition for SMEs is set to transform the UK's business banking market. The partnership will use the grant to challenge the oligopoly that currently dominates this marketplace by providing SMEs in the UK with the option of a dedicated and focused banking partner that will help them grow their business.

The combination of ClearBank and Tide's plan to match the grant with new investment over the next five years will help them seize a substantial share of the UK business banking market. To achieve their market share objective, ClearBank®and Tide will be focused on driving brand awareness, removing friction to switching and developing several additional attractor propositions to entice customers to move from the Big 4 banks.

ClearBank's state-of-the-art technologies and innovative services partnered with Tide's unrivalled digital banking platform means entrepreneurs and small business owners will have a genuine scale alternative to the high street banks.

Charles McManus, Group CEO of ClearBank, said: “We are delighted that the BCR has recognised the strength of our partnership with Tide in awarding us this grant. We both have the ambition to revolutionise banking services provided to the SME market.

ClearBank is committed to improving SME outcomes in the UK by leveraging innovative partnerships with leading technology and financial service providers in accordance with our banking as a service model.Our partnership with Tide will provide the SME banking market with an innovative and compelling client proposition, using our highly agile technology.”

Oliver Prill, CEO of Tide, said: “Tide fully supports the Banking Competition Remedies' objective of changing business banking for the better. This is why we are so thrilled that ClearBank's application was successful.

We can start work today. Tide is already the fastest growing business banking service provider in the UK. The funding will help Tide accelerate its strategy to capture a significant share of the market, and we plan to match this with further investment of our own. As well as growing awareness of our existing offer, we have exciting plans to expand the products and services we offer customers under the Tide brand, which we will announce soon.

Tide started operations in January 2017 with the mission to deliver a wholesale rethink of SME banking in the UK. The grant and our investment plans mean we will create a genuine challenger to the oligopoly that has dominated and failed the UK SME market for too long. We want to thank the BCR for the confidence they have shown in Tide and ClearBank which we intend to repay many times over.”