Allica grew SME lending to over £560m in 2021
Allica Bank – the fintech challenger bank empowering Britain’s established small and medium sized businesses – has published its 2021 business performance update, underlining the rapid scaling of the business in its first two years of operation.
2021 has been an exceptional year for Allica across all aspects of the business.
- Allica has made significant gains in the SME banking market, as it rapidly becomes the fintech challenger bank of choice in the UK:
- grew SME lending to over £560m in 2021 – more than 12 times higher compared to 2020, the first year of the bank’s operations
- deposits grew to over £800m in 2021 – spurred on by increasing brand recognition and Allica’s first-class digital customer experience
- the bank built strong financial momentum in 2021 with net operating income increasing to £7.8m (2020: £0.2m)
- agreed the acquisition of AIB’s GB SME lending portfolio in November 2021, welcoming c.2,000 SME customers to the bank with £0.6bn of lending*
*The AIB acquisition migrates to Allica’s platform in two tranches, with the first tranche successfully completed during April 2022.
- Allica is also forecasting strong, profitable growth over coming years – the bank forecasts it will:
- make £1bn in committed loan offers in 2022 (£500m in 2021)
- complete £3bn of lending to established SMEs in the next 3 year
- reach profitability during 2022 – with monthly revenues having already grown to £2.7m by April 2022
Allica’s growth has been underpinned by the successful completion of £110m Series B funding in November 2021
The fintech challenger’s technology platform and product expertise has enabled continued expansion of Allica’s customer proposition:
- launch of Asset Finance at start 2021
- strategic lending partnership live with Landbay during H1 2021
- rapid growth in Allica’s distinctive SME Relationship Manager network – supporting expansion into new areas and sectors
- new Business Rewards Account to be launched in 2022
Ongoing investment as Allica continues to scale into the UK’s established SME challenger bank of choice:
- opened new HQ in Milton Keynes September 2021
- announced series of key senior leadership appointments
- grew staff 69% to over 240 employees by April 2022, with ongoing significant investment in engineering roles for proprietary technology and data capabilities
Commenting on Allica’s performance, Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, said: “Allica has had an exceptional year and we’re rapidly becoming a major force in SME banking at a time when SMEs are looking for a true alternative in the banking market.
“We have laid robust foundations for an innovative full banking offering, and believe we are uniquely positioned to become a genuine alternative to the incumbent banks for established SMEs, who make up around 30% of the economy – and we’re seeing growing signs that the Allica proposition and service is gaining traction against the big 5 banks in the established SME segment.
“Looking ahead, we’re hugely excited about the plans for our customer proposition which are being enabled by Allica’s proprietary technology and data capabilities.
“Our Business Reward Account will launch shortly, providing much-needed competition in current accounts.”
