ClearBank, the largest clearing and embedded banking platform in the UK, has raised £175 million equity investment.
The first new clearing bank in the UK in over 250 years at launch in 2017, ClearBank is the only ‘next generation’ payments provider with direct access to all banking payment schemes in the UK such as Faster Payments, BACS and CHAPS.
As a regulated bank, ClearBank manages transactions end-to-end from order transmission to settlement, liquidity management and clearing. It provides over 13 million accounts to the customers of leading financial brands including Tide, Coinbase, Chip and Oaknorth Bank. All of its £3bn of deposits are held securely at the Bank of England.
ClearBank has seen tremendous growth and has been recognised as the #1 fastest-growing tech company in Deloitte’s 2021 UK Technology Fast 50 awards.
The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity arm of Apax, a leading global private equity advisory firm. Existing investors, CFFI UK Ventures (Barbados) Ltd and PPF Financial Holdings BV, also participated.
The new investment will accelerate ClearBank’s global expansion of its clearing and embedded banking offering, initially in Europe before moving into North America and Asia Pacific.
“ClearBank is the first proven and fully regulated cloud-native clearing bank in the UK for over 250 years,” said Charles McManus, CEO.
“Over the last five years we have demonstrated the success of our business model and through our work with leading financial service providers, helped to both unlock their potential and bring about positive and meaningful change for UK businesses and consumers.
“Our revenue growth is the proof of the momentum we have been gathering since 2017. It is this proof point and our transformative effect on access to banking services, traditionally a space characterised by high barriers to entry, which has given us the credibility to partner with and deliver seamless and secure embedded banking for award winning financial institutions, powerful fintech disrupters and government bodies alike.
“The next challenge is delivering this innovation globally. To achieve this, we needed a strategic partner with the right cultural fit, sector expertise and geographic experience, something we found in Apax Digital.”
Mark Beith, partner at Apax Digital, said: “All companies are becoming fintech companies, and ClearBank is providing the clearing and embedded banking infrastructure for them – starting with fintechs themselves.
“We’ve seen the power of its platform first-hand, and we are excited to partner with Charles and the existing shareholders to take ClearBank global.”