Alba Bank, the UK challenger with an SME focus, has partnered with ClearBank, real-time clearing and embedded banking specialists, to manage payments for its customers, as well as SaaS cloud-native lending engine Mambu, to enhance its lending offerings.

Alba Bank will be leveraging ClearBank and Mambu’s partnership to offer near real-time payments to its customer base and will be accessing these services via a single API integration. Alba will be able to connect with multiple payment schemes, including Bacs, CHAPS and Faster Payments, all allowing transactions to clear rapidly and over a secure platform.

Founded by Scottish entrepreneur Jim McColl in 2018 and with its headquarters in Glasgow, Alba Bank was established to provide commercial finance to UK SMEs which remain, as the firm puts it, ‘underserved by the mainstream banks’.

Opting to not use remote contact centres, Alba is developing a network of regional commercial finance experts with the experience to work alongside SMEs as they grow.

Alba was, earlier this year, granted its banking licence by the UK Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the FCA, allowing it to move into mobilisation, during which time it is currently focusing on building out its team, operations and infrastructure.

Sandeep Kadam, chief technology officer at Alba Bank, said: “Building our bank with industry-leading partners is the best way for Alba to scale quickly, in the knowledge that we’re being supported by the very best in the business.

“ClearBank has established a superb reputation among financial institutions and will provide us with the speed, agility and security that we need to help our SME customers grow and prosper.”

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John Salter, chief customer officer at Clearbank, added: “Just like Alba, ClearBank designed and built its entire IT system from scratch, bolstering competition and innovation in financial services, allowing for more efficient and cost-effective transactions for our customers. We’re delighted to be working with Alba as they prepare to launch and scale in the market.”