Scottish challenger Alba Bank taps nCino to power SME lending
Scottish challenger Alba Bank has selected nCino’s cloud banking platform to power its lending operations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
Alba Bank taps nCino for cloud banking platform
Integrated into its core banking engine, which is being provided by Mambu, Alba is set to leverage nCino’s platform across the full scope of its lending activities.
This includes the submission and monitoring of loan applications and the digital delivery of final loan decisions. The platform is expected to trigger a new level of automation for the bank’s underwriters and ultimately increase the speed of disbursals.
The partnership, which remains subject to regulatory approval, wraps up an eventful year for Alba. In March, it landed an Authorised with Restrictions (AwR) banking licence from the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), enabling it to stabilise its operations after faring the headwinds of the pandemic.
Launched in 2019 in Glasgow to serve SMEs with lending and saving facilities, the bank initially utilised Temenos Infinity and Temenos T24 Transact before announcing a switch to Mambu in October.
After broadening its senior leadership team in September, the bank then sought to enhance its SME payment capabilities through a partnership with ClearBank, which connected it to multiple different payment schemes including Bacs, CHAPS and Faster Payments.
As it continues to extend its network of technology partners, Andrew Lewis, the bank’s chief risk officer since September, says its partnership with US-based nCino will “support our end-to-end lending needs” and enable the bank to “scale with speed and agility” while hinting at new product launches on the horizon.
Alba becomes one of the latest adopters of nCino’s core technology, following the likes of OneSavings Bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and WaterStone Bank, among others.
