Challenger bank for SME loans

GBB started off in late 2017 as a team of four with a big vision. By 2019 GBB developed a detailed model to forecast their financial performance and the first wave of policies. They performed a range of stress tests on the business model to demonstrate to the regulator that the plan is robust from a capital and liquidity point of view, and were invited to apply for a banking license.

Currently only around 245,000 of the government’s annual 300,000 house building target is being met. GBB is on a mission to support the recovery of Britain’s construction sector by providing property development loans of between £1 million and £5 million to regional property developers, SMEs, and construction companies across the North East, Yorkshire and North West.

GBB expects to receive its banking licence later in 2021 and will offer bespoke development financing, an area of commercial lending underserved by the incumbent banks.

Stephen Lancaster, Chief Information Officer of GBB commented, “One in three property developers in the UK is denied financing. Many avoid applying for loans altogether, fearing rejection. Traditionally, SMEs have been the most underserved group as existing banks and lenders tend to prioritise higher loan values. Our mission is to turn things around, and we can only do that by leveraging today’s best-in-class cloud technology."

Its state-of-the-art proprietary tech platform enables full end-to-end delivery of property development lending and includes a dynamic risk ratings tool.

GBB X Mambu

Mambu has been working with GBB for three years, responding to a brief to innovate and iterate as it grows.

Mambu’s cloud-native platform will make it quicker and easier for GBB to respond to market changes while delivering banking products and excellent customer experiences, driving long-term growth and profitability.

GBB opted to compose its own architecture with Mambu's SaaS banking platform, as opposed to a more traditional ‘bank-in-a-box’ approach. This ensures the flexibility to swap out components as required, avoiding vendor lock-in and wholesale re-platforming.

Mambu enables GBB to develop and launch bespoke lending products using an easy-to-configure platform, which benefits from continuous upgrades.

“We partnered with Mambu because, like us, they are customer-obsessed and understand technology's role in providing customers with a better experience. The team understands our market really well and have supported us in our journey to becoming a bank every step of the way,” Lancaster commented.

GBB aims to lend £3 billion over five years, building a £1 billion plus balance sheet. It will fund almost 20,000 homes and several million square feet of office space, supporting the creation of over 100,000 jobs. For savers, competitive fixed rates will be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).