The bank's proposition is unique in that it is a blend of relationship-led and technologically- enabled service. Its SME clients have direct access to their relationship managers, and credit and loan-management officers. Each relationship manager at Recognise will have around 100 clients, giving them substantial capability to make the service bespoke and personal. Upholding such a tailor-made offering required a cost-effective and scalable banking solution that would free up resources and allow the bank to focus on building personal relationships and developing a regional presence across the UK.

With Mambu, Recognise is set to transform SME banking in the UK. Its agile platform gives Recognise a considerable competitive advantage allowing it to fundamentally change the way services are offered to small businesses by unlocking an entirely new value exchange between SMEs and their bank.

Jason Oakley, CEO of Recognise said, “We pride ourselves on treating clients with respect and building strong relationships with our customer base. We respect small business owners for the value they bring to our economy and local communities. We have a very pragmatic approach to lending and savings (soon to be launched). When selecting a supplier, we chose Mambu as we saw a great match with our culture and ethos. We share a passion towards understanding the challenges of our customers and go above and beyond to offer solutions to address them.”

“There was an urgent need to serve a market where speed and flexibility are critical so we built a seamless cloud-based solution. We partnered with Mambu, and were supported by several leading fintech partners to quickly scale and deliver speedy and expert services to SMEs.”

For the past decade, business lending and associated services have not met the needs of SMEs. Recognise identified the need and has created in itself a customer-focused, bespoke SME bank. Additionally, the unprecedented demand for loans and credit lines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic positions Recognise favourably to serve its target audience of about half a million SMEs in the UK .

Monica Velasquez, CTO at Recognise commented, “From the outset, our approach was aligned with Mambu’s philosophy. The composable architecture and its API-first nature, allows the build of seamless digital solutions all in the cloud, which is a perfect fit for us, as Recognise is a cloud-led bank. We are able to adapt and respond to changing market scenarios quickly, and with the in-house knowledge gained throughout the implementation process we can launch products in a matter of days.”

Elliott Limb, Mambu’s Chief Customer Officer said, “The launch of Recognise bank marks a significant milestone for UK's SMEs and Mambu is proud to partner with Recognise to cater to their needs. We feel privileged to work so closely with such an enthusiastic team, and see products we believe will revolutionise the banking experience for small businesses. This successful go-live is a result of collaboration, openness, commitment, and cutting-edge technology practices. Recognise and Mambu have a solid partnership, and we are committed to help Recognise reach its ambitious growth goals.”

Recognise’s initial offering is a range of products in commercial property, and working capital loans for SMEs. It soon plans to introduce other savings as well as asset finance products. Before the official go-live, Recognise had seen over £333m of enquiries, and the bank’s goal is to underwrite around £250m in new loans, spread across all of its product lines before March 2022.