StreamBank receives full banking licence

The business was born out of bridging loan business conducted by ActivTrades and aims to serve the specialist property market with short and medium term funding solutions.

This is through bridging and development finance, commercial mortgages and now deposit products.

It will provide property finance solutions between £250,000 and £5m to support property developers, small and medium-sized businesses, individuals and housebuilders.

The lender secured a banking licence with restrictions in July last year, and at the time, slated deposit products for an early 2023 launch.

John Reed, chair of StreamBank, said that since the submission of its banking application in 2021, it had been impressed by the “smooth process” it had navigated to get a full banking licence.

“I would like to thank both the PRA and FCA today for their guidance and support as we have built StreamBank and to the management team for all their hard work in getting us to where we are today,” he added.

StreamBank: ‘Opportunities for new banks’

Steve Pateman, CEO of StreamBank, said: “The specialist lending sector is now well established and whilst competitive with many strong market participants, there are opportunities for new banks that can respond quickly, with a hands-on and common sense approach, finding innovative solutions to meet the needs of many property investors – both individuals and businesses – whether it be a bridge to support a house move or development finance or a longer-term commercial mortgage, our aim is to find a solution that works for the customer, regardless of the complexity of the case.

“Our hands-on approach allows us to respond quickly – being a small bank means that we have short lines of communication and decisions can be made as needed; we combine technology with practical experience and our approach is ‘can do’ in philosophy and practice.”

Pateman added that it would offer customers “flexible ways to save” through fixed term and notice products will be offering competitive rates. It has launched a one-year fixed term bond for customers wishing to deposit between £1,000 to £100,000.

StreamBank founder Alex Pusco said: “We are absolutely delighted to officially launch StreamBank. Over the last few years, the team has worked incredibly hard to build a fully licenced bank from the ground up and to achieve today’s milestone is an incredibly proud moment for me and everyone involved in StreamBank.

“Although our model and product set are nothing new to the banking market, I’m absolutely confident that the StreamBank experience, and our approach to finding a solution for customers will be what sets us apart.”

Deposits placed with the company are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000 per depositor per bank or £170,000 for joint accounts.

Savings products can be opened and funded digitally.