Nerves have been tested in the banking sector by a series of high-profile collapses this year. The UK’s first so-called challenger bank, Metro Bank, narrowly avoided such a collapse when it received a last-minute rescue in early October, a £325m capital raise by Jaime Gilinski Bacal, a Colombian billionaire who has secured a majority stake in the business.
Many UK challenger banks have struggled to make a profit since inception. For example, Kroo Bank saw a $19.7m loss, while Monzo Bank made a loss of $140.2m (as of February 28, 2023). And Atom Bank, which reports at the end of March, recorded a loss of $12.5m in 2023.
