Phone bank Atom aiming to raise £75million to fund its launch

Atom, which was awarded a licence by the Bank of England last week, has already raised £25million from the likes of private equity tycoon Jon Moulton and legendary fund manager Neil Woodford to build its operations and infrastructure.

However, to meet regulatory capital requirements and fund its marketing and customer acquisition efforts, Thomson said that Atom will hold a new £75million fundraising round by the end of the year.

The bank, which will only be accessible on smartphones and tablet computers, is scheduled to open for business during the fourth quarter.

According to Thomson, the fact that Atom will have no branches and is based in Durham means it will be able to pass on its lower costs to customers in the form of competitive rates on savings and loans. He said that the explosive growth in mobile banking was behind his decision to set up Atom.

According to the British Bankers’ Association, more Britons now use smartphone apps to check their balances than the internet or their local branch.

He said: “I think there is no long-term future for the branch as a transaction centre. In less than two years, mobile has gone from nothing to bigger than branches, internet and telephone.” Thomson said that Atom could be in a position to float on the London Stock Exchange within three years.

 According to research from financial data provider Dealogic, 32 company flotations, or initial public offerings, took place during the first half of 2015 compared to 60 for the same period last year, a fall of 46.7 per cent. Their combined value fell 70 per cent to £4.1billion. The data shows that the second quarter saw a sharp drop in the number of IPOs to 12 from 20 in the previous quarter, which market observers attribute to pre-election uncertainty