Exclusive: Cashplus Bank appoints ex-Masthaven Bank CEO as new chief financial officer

SME bank Cashplus has found a new chief financial officer with Leigh Bartlett being appointed, AltFi can exclusively reveal.

Bartlett is a familiar face having previously led Masthaven Bank, a non-bank lender which received its banking licence in 2016, but wound down its business in 2022 after struggling to secure investment.

He served as CEO of Masthaven from 2020, and prior to that was chief financial officer of Portugal’s Novobanco and also held roles at FNZ, Westpac and NatWest.

“This is a challenging period for the UK economy and for many individuals and small businesses, many of whom remain underserved by high street banks,” Rich Wagner, CEO and founder of Cashplus Bank said.

“Now more than ever we need to grow our business to meet the growing demand for simple, inclusive banking products and Leigh’s knowledge and experience will help us to deliver on our ambitious strategic goals.”

Bartlett will also join the Cashplus board as an executive director.

The bank has also appointed Brennan Elliott-Jones, formerly the chief financial officer of Fiinu and head of finance at Starling Bank, into the newly-created role of finance director reporting directly to Bartlett.

Cashplus Bank earlier this month reported its first £5.5m profit as a newly-licenced bank, having seen its revenues rise by nearly a third in 2022.

Wagner told AltFi at the time to “watch this space” as Cashplus is preparing for a rebrand that will see it shed the name which has served it since being founded in 2005.