Barclays’ high street U-turn exposes a divide in British banking April 8, 2026 Bank have ditched the high street over the last decade but is a comeback on the horizon? Samuel Norman explores the changes in this week’s column. In Westminster, the news cycle is never short of drama over U-turns. Subtle tweaks or direct bait-and-switches on policy are batted away by government spokespeople as mere “pivots” as [...]
Revolut profit booms after poaching record customers from high street banks March 24, 2026 Revolut revealed a major boom in its bottom line on Tuesday morning after the fintech giant poached a record amount of customers from its high street rivals. The $75bn digital banking titan posted a 57 per cent surge in group-wide profit to £1.7bn. It came as retail customers expanded by a record 16m as the [...]
Banks keep £100 contactless limit despite new powers March 19, 2026 Britain’s banks will not be lifting the £100 cap on contactless payments despite the regulator giving them the power to do so, citing low demand. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lifted the cap on Thursday, leaving it up to banks to increase their own limits – although none of the UK’s biggest banks have decided [...]
Starling on hunt for new chair as Deloitte veteran bows out March 17, 2026 UK fintech Starling is on the hunt for a new chair following the news the firm’s current head would exit later this year. Starling said on Tuesday that David Sproul, the bank’s chair since October 2021, would step down once a successor is appointed. Sproul joined Starling after a near two-decade long career at Big [...]
European fintechs ride the Trump train to Wall Street March 11, 2026 The new set of aspiring American dreamers are landing on the shores of the Atlantic. But these digital-first visionaries printed in venture capital green aren’t looking for a white picket fence. Instead, their sights are locked on a federal banking charter. Last week Europe’s most valuable fintech company Revolut became the latest in a boat-load [...]
Allica Bank joins fintech unicorn club after £100m injection February 24, 2026 Small business lender Allica Bank will join the illustrious club of British fintech unicorns after securing a fresh funding round. The challenger bank is said to have netted $155m (£111m) in a Series D fundraise, which will take the firm’s valuation to $1.2bn and over the billion pound mark to declare unicorn status. The round [...]
Revolut: Inside Nik Storonsky’s $75bn fintech empire still waiting for its crown February 24, 2026 In Revolut’s shiny new Canary Wharf headquarters, the command ‘Get Sh*t Done’ is bolted onto the walls. The unconventional office mantra is a stark reminder of co-founder Nik Storonsky’s acerbic, straight-talking manner that has kept the gas pumping at the UK’s most valuable fintech since it opened for business in 2015. “Whenever a target is set, [...]
Buy now, sell-off later: Where did Klarna’s IPO go wrong? February 20, 2026 When Klarna finally kicked off its Wall Street listing in September chatter quickly emerged whether the move would open the floodgates to a fleet of fintech listings. With the likes of Monzo, Zilch, Revolut and Starling all speculated to be eagerly waiting in the wings, all eyes were on the Swedish unicorn as a taster [...]
Starling founder Anne Boden cuts stake in £4bn fintech February 6, 2026 The founder of UK fintech Starling has slashed her stake in the digital bank during a secondary share sale, Morning Wire can reveal. Anne Boden, who launched Starling in 2014 after stints at Allied Irish Banks and Lloyds, cut her holdings in the digital bank to near 2.7 per cent from a previous 4.3 per [...]
Making Tax Digital set to boost SME productivity February 5, 2026 Britain’s push to digitise tax ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline is set to help close its productivity gap with countries like France and Germany, Morning Wire understands. According to Starling Bank, wider use of digital financial tools by SMEs could add £25.3bn to the economy, helping to narrow the UK’s productivity gap [...]