Atom bank

A UK bank with no branches, run through an app, based in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was the first digital-only bank to get a full UK banking licence.

About Atom bank

Atom bank is a UK bank with no branches. Everything runs through an app on your phone or tablet, from opening an account to checking your savings, and customers can log in with face ID or voice ID. It offers savings accounts, mortgages and secured loans for small businesses, and it is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the two bodies that keep UK banks safe and fair.

Atom was founded in July 2013 by Anthony Thomson, a co-founder of Metro Bank, and Mark Mullen, a former chief executive of First Direct. Wikipedia describes it as the first digital-only challenger bank to be granted a full UK banking licence. Mark Mullen is still chief executive. The bank began in Durham and has now moved its headquarters to the Pattern Shop in Newcastle upon Tyne, a Grade II listed building from the 1880s that was once part of the Robert Stephenson & Co. locomotive works. Atom says it has nearly 600 people, and the move was marked in a launch event attended by Treasury minister Lucy Rigby.

Atom's stated mission, in its newsroom, is to make borrowing and saving faster and simpler, with better value than competitors. At the Newcastle opening Mullen spoke of redefining modern banking and building a bank that will last "another hundred years and beyond".

Its products are fixed and easy-access savings, digital mortgages sold through brokers, and secured lending for businesses, all through the app. It has run community partnerships, for instance one with The Prince's Trust, and its early careers page mentions an Atom Futures Fund for Year 13 students from low-income or in-care backgrounds in County Durham who are applying to Russell Group universities, plus one-week work experience through the EY Foundation Smart Futures programme.

Atom lists five values in its own words: Honesty, Always Up, Respect, Courage and Investment. All staff work a four-day week with no pay cut, a policy introduced in November 2021, with hybrid working, a £200 yearly skills fund and volunteer days (company claims). Early careers routes on its site include a yearly graduate scheme in Business, Tech or Finance streams (Business and Tech run for two years, Finance for three and includes Atom-funded study for a professional finance qualification), summer internships, Women in Technology scholarships at Durham University, and placements for final-year maths and statistics students in credit risk. We did not find an apprenticeship scheme or published graduate pay.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Fixed and easy-access savings accounts through the app.', 'title': 'Savings'}
• {'desc': 'Digital mortgages for home buyers.', 'title': 'Mortgages'}
• {'desc': 'Secured loans for small businesses.', 'title': 'Business lending'}
• {'desc': 'Branch-free banking with face and voice ID log-in.', 'title': 'App banking'}

Key facts

• Founded July 2013 by Anthony Thomson and Mark Mullen
• Headquarters moved from Durham to the Pattern Shop, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Nearly 600 employees at the Newcastle opening (own announcement)
• Four-day working week for all staff since November 2021 (company claim)
• Graduate scheme with Business, Tech and Finance streams, plus internships and scholarships

Website: www.atombank.co.uk