Lending journey

Allica Bank Lending Timeline

Key milestones tracing Allica Bank's journey from securing its banking licence in 2019 to scaling lending, technology, and operational capabilities through 2025.

Explore the timeline Last updated October 2025

Banking Licence and Initial Plans

  • September 2019: Granted a full UK banking licence by the Prudential Regulation Authority, enabling deposit taking from personal and commercial customers.
  • Outlined plans to launch commercial owner-occupier mortgages, investment products, asset finance by mid-2020, and a business current account in 2021.

Launch of Lending Operations

  • March 2020: Commenced lending operations just before the COVID-19 lockdown, launching business loans secured on property and commercial investment loans while completing the first commercial property-backed drawdown. MuleSoft and FMS Go-Live.
  • September 2020: Raised £26 million in funding led by Warwick Capital Partners to support growth.
  • November 2020: Ascent Go-Live.
  • End of 2020: Introduced asset finance as a second major SME lending product, funding equipment, vehicles, and machinery.

Early Growth

  • January 2021: Completed the first loan to a UK SME and saw asset finance become a key growth driver.
  • November 2021: Announced the acquisition of a £0.6 billion British SME lending portfolio from Allied Irish Bank covering around 2,000 customers.

Expansion and Integration

  • March 2022: Completed the migration of more than 1,400 acquired AIB customers onto Allica Bank platforms. 1000th Commercial Mortgage drawdown.
  • April 2022: Mambu Go-Live.
  • June 2022: Loan book exceeded £100 million, monthly profitability was achieved for the first time, and a £112 million Series B funding round closed.
  • August 2022: Finalised integration of the AIB SME portfolio and joined the UK Government's Recovery Loan Scheme.
  • End of 2022: Loan and deposit balances surpassed £1 billion with £155 million raised during the year, including a £100 million Series C round.

Digital Growth and Lending Scale

  • Surpassed £2 billion in SME lending as asset finance lending exceeded £200 million annually.
  • Delivered the first full year of profitability with £16.1 million pre-tax profit and won Best Business Finance Provider at the British Bank Awards alongside Deloitte UK Tech Fast 50 recognition.
  • Expanded investment in proprietary software, including automated decision-in-principle capability for commercial mortgages.
  • December 2023: MuleSoft shutdown.

Technology and Product Innovation

  • Recorded 64% year-on-year lending growth, surpassing £3 billion in total lending while deposits reached £4 billion.
  • Gross new lending exceeded £1 billion annually.
  • Achieved a second consecutive year of profitability with pre-tax profit nearly doubling to £29.9 million.
  • Launched AI-powered credit decisioning for asset finance loans, cutting approvals from 24 hours to under a minute.
  • Conducted major discovery and migration planning for the Lendscape Asset Finance platform.
  • August 2024: Acquired Tuscan Capital, expanding into specialist bridging finance.
  • September 2024: FMS Shutdown.

Scaling and Strategic Enhancements

  • Q1 2025: Implemented an Asset and Liability Management system and improved lending data ingestion for risk modelling.
  • September 2025: Completed Asset Finance feature development across product catalogues, pricing engines, and security capture; removed offline Excel underwriting, saving up to 50% of portfolio development team time; and introduced delegated authority for complex credit decisions alongside centralised security processes.
  • Recognised as the second fastest-growing company in Europe in the FT1000, while sustaining a £3 billion loan book across commercial mortgages, asset finance, and growth finance.
  • Advocated for SME-friendly updates to Basel 3.1 and FSCS limits to unlock further lending capacity.
  • October 2025: Asset Finance replatform and migration from Ascent to Lendscape.