New SME bank to launch in 2020

Recognise, a subsidiary of the City of London Group, will offer financial services to the UK SME sector and the retail and business deposits market.

nCino offers a single end-to-end digital platform that is designed to help reduce costs by improving employee efficiency and productivity, while enhancing the customer experience and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Working with nCino, Recognise will also implement and integrate further third party services ranging from biometrics, to video conferencing, due diligence checks, and open banking initiatives allowing SMEs to share their full financial information (including current account transactional data) to achieve speed of execution in their lending product decisioning.

Jason Oakley, CEO of Recognise, said: “I am delighted to announce our partnership with nCino as we get closer to launching Recognise Bank. We needed a customer-driven portal approach and nCino’s capabilities are the best fit for the enhanced level of customer experience we will be offering the UK’s underserved SMEs.

“As banking entrepreneurs ourselves, we believe there are a number of key elements missing in the SME experience; SMEs currently aren’t receiving a high enough level of transparency, communication, speed and reassurance from incumbent banks. Existing providers are using old tech and there still isn’t enough innovation when it comes to SME banking. At Recognise, we will be using a blend of highly trained people and innovative expert technology to create this much needed service; leading edge technology will be the enabler for innovation and nCino offers flexibility and responsiveness. With partnerships such as this, Recognise, like ‘Lego’ can keep changing and building. Using partners like nCino will help us create an ecosystem which we can constantly update and will help us deliver a bank in a box that future proofs the needs of the customers of tomorrow. We believe and are proud to say the SME experience with Recognise Bank will be transforming and we look forward to being on their growth journey with them.”

Ed Lane, VP Sales EMEA at nCino, commented: "We're honoured to be working with the progressive team at Recognise, which is dedicated to fundamentally improving the UK’s SME banking sector. Customer expectations are changing rapidly, and today’s customers and SME owners demand digital experiences that make their lives easier. nCino enables financial institutions to onboard new customers and originate loans and deposit accounts in a fast, efficient and compliant manner. We are proud that Recognise has selected our industry-leading cloud banking platform to provide the best possible experience to its clients in order to help them grow their businesses.”