Atom Bank attains full registration with business Standards

Neobank Atom has committed to the Standards of Lending Practice for business customers, as it seeks to protect SMEs and provide fairer outcomes for banking business customers.

Overseen by the Lending Standards Board (LSB), the Standards of Lending Practice (SLP), covers loans, credit cards, charge cards and overdrafts, offering a separate set of Standards for asset finance. 

Achieving full SLP registration has come after a period of 'interim' status, during which Atom worked with the LSB to fulfil the necessary registration requirements.

Tom Renwick, the head of business lending at Atom Bank said that full registration to the LSB's business Standards highlights that the neo-bank is "dedicated to driving fair customer outcomes, going beyond what statutory regulation requires of us".

The UK's first app-based bank, Atom has been around since 2014, with lending operations central to the neo-banks offering. 

Since the firm's inception, it has funded more than £1bn in business loans, growing its business lending book by £300m in the 2022 reporting year. 

Other lending activities that have driven Astom's strong close to the reporting year have been its mortgage activities. 

On-balance sheet residential lending has also grown to £1.5bn, up £500m from 2021. 

A reason behind the surge in lending comes from Atom's Ner-Prime retail mortgage offering, allowing individuals with less than perfect credit scores to secure loans for their homes. 

Emma Lovell, the LSB's chief executive  said that she was "delighted" at Atom Banks' successful registration, adding that the cost-of-living crisis means that "trust between lenders and borrowers is more important than ever."