Cashplus turns first £5.5m profit as a newly-licenced bank

SME bank Cashplus filed its full-year 2023 results this morning, which included the bank’s first after-tax profit since being awarded its full banking licence in 2021.

CEO Rich Wagner revealed Cashplus Bank’s revenues had risen by 28 per cent to £52m, while the bank swung from a £3.6m loss in 2022 to a £5.5m profit this year.

Wagner described it as “a year of tailwinds” for the bank when speaking to AltFi, he said the combination of interest rate changes as well as double-digit growth across both transactional banking (interchange fees) and Cashplus’ lending businesses.

Total customer accounts grew by over 60 per cent with deposits subsequently rising by 13 per cent to £512m and card payment fees (interchange) up by 12 per cent.

“We’re excited about the diversity of growth that we’ve seen for the business — something which has been a foundation of Cashplus for over 15 years now — and we’re excited as a two-year-old bank showing that we can be one of the first profitable digital banks out there.”

The CEO told AltFi that its profit had been reached through growth, as opposed to cost-cutting measures, and that the business expects to maintain its profitability going forwards now.

The company had several major launches this year including the debut of its next-gen business credit card, which Wagner today called “by far the most differentiated in the market”, and the doubling of its planned Liverpool office size.

Cashplus last turned a profit in its full-year 2018 results, however this was before its banking licence was awarded.

Addressing long-running rumours that Cashplus Bank is preparing a for a rebrand which will see it drop the ‘Cashplus’ name Wagner said “it’s a very emotional topic for me, but Cashplus has served its purpose and, one might say, after 15 years it’s passed its sell-by date.”

“In that regards, watch this space.”