Thursday, 26 December 2024
Start-up lender Tandem targets massive growth with Harrods Bank takeover
Start-up digital bank Tandem has completed its takeover of Harrods Bank, the lender to the wealthy that was once controlled by Mohamed Al Fayed.
The deal more than doubles Tandem’s customer base to 21,000 and adds £80m of capital.
Tandem also regains its banking licence through the acquisition, which it lost last year after Sanpower, the Chinese owners of House of Fraser failed to deliver on a planned £35m investment.
Ricky Knox, chief executive of Tandem, told the Telegraph the Harrods Bank tie-up would help the bank “accelerate our growth massively”.
“It’s possible we can hit hundreds of thousands of customers this year,” Mr Knox said. “Ultimately our aim is to become a mainstream bank with millions of customers.”
Mr Knox also confirmed that Tandem has held talks with former Barclays chief Bob Diamond about taking a possible stake, although he is yet to do so.
“We talk to a lot of people, but we definitely had a conversation with him [Bob Diamond],” Mr Knox said. “We will continue discussions with him.”
Tandem will immediately retire the 125-year-old Harrods Bank brand.
The lender was previously controlled by ex-Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed until the early 1990s, when it was forced to split from the luxury retailer after the Government deemed him and his brother not “fit and proper” people to run the bank.
In recent years it has catered increasingly for wealthy Middle Eastern clients. The lender’s only branch, inside the Harrods store in Kensington, closed in September last year.
Tandem also gains a £375m mortgage book and over £400m of deposits through the takeover.
Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker from The Telegraph
