Chetwood Financial agrees up to £150m investment from Elliott advisors, as banking licence approved

Chetwood Financial has agreed up to £150 million investment from private investment firm Elliott.

News of the investment follows approval of our banking licence by the PRA and the FCA, adding to existing authorisation for consumer lending secured in early 2017.

The investment and licence approval will accelerate plans to launch more products with unique functionality, alongside our first consumer product, an unsecured loan under the brand LiveLend.

The company operates on a new, cloud-based technology platform, Yobota. The platform can house a range of stand-alone products, from lending to savings and more, which won’t just fit the traditional financial services mould, but enable responsive and dynamic products, not yet seen in the industry.

Chetwood Financial and Yobota were founded in 2016 by ex-HSBC senior banker Andy Mielczarek and technology strategist Mark Jenkinson.

Chetwood CEO, Andy Mielczarek said: “Our starting point is a desire to do a better job for customers who aren’t being best served by existing financial providers. We are not yet another “challenger bank” and we don’t plan to offer full-service banking to everyone.

“Instead, our focus is on creating stand-alone products that offer a better deal and experience for specific groups of customers, who we believe we can make better off. The support from Elliott and endorsement from the regulators is a huge vote of confidence in our new model for financial services and our future plans.”

COO Mark Jenkinson added: “Despite huge leaps in technological capability in other sectors, existing banks haven’t really changed the fundamental products they offer for decades. Yet open API banking and low-cost cloud systems present huge opportunities for the financial services industry and we’re working at the cutting edge of these areas to give customers something truly different. It’s a new model, not obsessed with owning the customer and cross-selling, but creating products that interact with the individual and their lives.”

Amit Sharma, portfolio manager at Elliott Advisors commented: “In an environment where there are numerous management teams seeking investment for bank start-ups, Chetwood stands out given the strength and experience of the management team, a business plan focused on asset accumulation and its credible market proposition.”.

You can read more here:

The Times: Elliott takes majority stake in new Welsh online bank

FinExtra: Chetwood Financial preps live launch on 150 million debt and equity investment