ClearBank launched in 2017 and was the first new, full-service clearing bank plugged directly into the UK’s banking and payment infrastructure for over 250 years. For decades, payment clearing remained unchanged and unchallenged, and so we wanted to find a way to change it, to make banking infrastructure faster, safer, and more reliable.
Website
https://clear.bank/
2017
Borough Yards, 13 Dirty Lane, London, SE1 9PA
The UK and Netherlands
All of the UK and the Netherlands
Charles McManus – Founding CEO
ClearBank has raised USD 477 million of funding over seven rounds.
ClearBank raised GBP 175 million in its latest funding round, which was the Series E round in 2022.
ClearBank has six investors in total, including four institutional and two angel investors. Institutional investors include Apax Digital, PPF Financial Holdings BV, BCR, CFFI UK Ventures (Barbados) Ltd and Annabel Schild and John Risley are angel investors.
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Pay.UK direct participant in Faster Payments, Bacs, ICS (image clearing system), and a direct participant in CHAPS via Bank of England. We are also a member of UK Finance Payments and Commercial Streams and Payments Association.
Deloitte Fast 50 listing;
British Bank Awards;
UK Fintech Awards;
CNBC Top 200 Global Fintech Companies listing;
FSTech Awards;
Card and Payments Awards.
hello@clear.bank
Agency and Embedded Banking
Products:
Accounts – operating, customer segregated, client money and multi-currency;
Clearing – Bacs, CHAPS, Direct Debit, FPS;
Embedded Banking.
Acquirers, banks, building societies and credit unions, digital assets platforms, fintechs, pre-regulated firms, NBFI.
Fully licenced bank offering direct connectivity to all major payment schemes. It offers services that intentionally complement its customers’ market activities, driving choice, and competition in the wider market and therefore doesn’t compete with its customers.
Over 250 companies, including: Tide, Raisin, Chip, Truelayer, Allica Bank, Kroo, Incuto, Manchester Credit Union, Wealthify, Coinbase, Paypoint, Streambank, eToro, Wealthkernel.
Cloud, API, Portal, Microservices, On-Premise.
Mambu, Tribe, Crassula, Integrated Finance, Incuto, Microsoft.
Its unique business model is centred on financial safety and a thirst for innovation. ClearBank delivers a resilient, financially sustainable, and low-risk proposition, never lending any customer funds to third parties and all sterling deposits held securely at the Bank of England. It offers the stability and security of a fully regulated bank and the agility and technology-first model of nonbank providers.
ClearBank utilises its banking license and robust technology solutions to enable its partners to offer innovative banking services to their own customers without them worrying about the cost and complexity of acquiring a banking licence. It continues to provide its clients with the tools to break traditional stereotypes of financial services and sets the example for the next wave of fintech innovation, including the later emergence of other tech-led clearing banks.
A key part of its growth strategy is ClearBank’s embedded banking proposition. Using its unique API technology, ClearBank’s embedded banking services seamlessly integrate with a diverse array of platforms, offering a suite of financial solutions fit-to-scale for businesses, institutions, and individuals including some of the industry’s most influential fintechs. Its first three embedded banking customers, Tide, Chip, and Raisin, saw an average transaction volume exceeding 10 million per month in 2023.
Technology-enabled clearing bank
Licence and Technology
Banking licence
ClearBank operates a Three Lines risk management model supported by risk identification and reporting. Risk reporting to key governance forums incorporates risk mitigation and remediation plans covering the risk taxonomy.
ClearBank Embedded Banking fees are driven by the number of accounts onboarded and the volume of inbound and outbound payment transactions.
Platform and transaction fees.
Examples
Coinbase: https://clear.bank/news/case-study-how-clearbank-facilitates-the-safe-storage-and-movement-of-gbp-funds-for-coinbase-customers
Truelayer: https://clear.bank/news/truelayer-closed-loop-payments-case-study
Allica Bank: https://clear.bank/news/allica-bank-sme-current-accounts-case-study
Incuto: https://clear.bank/news/incuto-credit-unions-faster-payments-case-study
Wealthkernel: https://clear.bank/news/case-study-powering-instant-matching-deposits-at-wealthkernel