2024 was a year of failure for some. Sainsbury’s supermarket finally got the message. They launched their bank in 1997 and after attracting £125m of deposits, they finally sold to Natwest in June 24. In fact it took them four years to sell it, and they ended up forking out some £125m to persuade NatWest to take over their one million customers. Other Supermarkets tried to install partner banks inside their branches, and they failed there too.
2025 draws a line under the era of supermarket banks. Digital giants have followed. Apple pulled out of trying to build their own Buy Now, Pay Later BNPL solution last year, and now plan to partner instead – code, I suggest, for a clean exit.
The dabblers, the amateurs and the part timers do not last long in financial services. We know that we work in a very specialised and complex industry. Lots of people try: since July 2023, over 12,000 firms have applied to be either Appointed Representatives, IARs or directly authorised DA. I know this because the FCA moved to convenient seven digit numbering system in January, so you can track the numbers sequentially as they get approved.
A thousand a month are applying for a licence, but only a fraction of those firms get through the gateway to approval as full IFAs or mortgage brokers. But you already have a licence to trade. Sitting pretty – customers need your access to suppliers, and suppliers need the route to market – through your customers.
Some say that regulation is holding us back, and that it ties us all down – but that is before you look at specialist digital compliance solutions. Your licence is a critical part, but how you demonstrate digital compliance is your passport to a clean licence and growth – show and tell as they teach in primary school.
BAT compliance follows a simple path to enable compliance managers to track staff T&C, automate file checks and audits, follow client onboarding and reconcile work to KPIs. Automate your compliance with the machine! The world is changing, but this is not a call to change your customer relationship. Au contraire – you need trusted partners – go digital to communicate with regulators and suppliers. Embrace what you have in 2025, and develop the new. People buy from people and you have a licence to trade – embrace your clients, and keep the opposition out.