UK bank Atom partners with FIS for digital banking

FIS has partnered with the new UK banking entrant Atom, whose wholly digital offering is being prepared for launch. The new digital banking player will offer an app based solution to clients, with its backend run through FIS’ core system.  

Atom was, like many banking start-ups in the UK taking advantage of recent rule changes, recently given the go ahead by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to launch a new bank. As it stands, the yet to be launched bank has its place of founding in Durham, where a 100 strong team is preparing the new entrant. Mark Mullen, a 25 year veteran of the banking sector, and past CEO of internet bank First Direct has taken the new venture’s helm. The area of focus will be a digital offering, which provides clients with an easy and convenient way of banking. The bank is expected to launch next year.

FIS was founded in 2006 and now employs more than 42,000 people. The company provides a wide range of bank payment solutions as well consulting services for outsourcing such solutions. The company is active in 130 countries and provides offerings to more than 14,000 institutions. The company continues to expand, and recently acquired Clear2Pay which significantly expanded its payments technology capabilities.

The partnership between FIS and Atom will allow the bank to deliver wholly digital banking solutions to its customers, with Atoms offerings to be accessible through an app that uses FIS’ core system as a backend. The backend will provide a platform on which to plug in products and systems as Atom’s offerings develop.

Explaining the importance of the partnership to the Atom business model, Atom Chief Operating and Innovation Officer Edward Twiddy says: “We have always been determined to offer customers control and assurance over service quality. We are not interested in designing a great front end simply to bolt this onto all the cost and reputational issues of an existing High Street bank’s operating model. To do this we need an unparalleled quality of service and depth of partnership with our core technology partner; we have found that in FIS.”

Peter Schurau, EVP Global Financial Solutions at FIS, adds: “Atom needed a partner with proven capabilities in delivering banking-on-demand solutions. Outsourcing its banking infrastructure to FIS allows the bank to get to market faster and better compete with traditional high street banks, while building its business and delivering the best possible service to customers. We’re thrilled to be confirmed as Atom’s core technology partner and to be so closely involved in bringing this exciting new digital-only bank to market.”