Glasgow-based Alba Bank – the UK’s newest challenger bank dedicated to supporting SMEs – has made a significant step towards supporting the UK’s small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by adopting the nCino Cloud Banking Platform.

Founded by Scottish entrepreneur Jim McColl in 2018, Alba Bank was established to provide commercial finance to UK SMEs, which it says remain underserved by the mainstream banks.

“As a secure cloud-based solution, the nCino Cloud Banking Platform will help to ensure Alba has a streamlined end-to-end lending process from loan application to fund disbursement,” said nCino.

“As Alba grows and evolves, it will offer a scalable, cutting-edge SME lending framework which complements its commitment to providing quick lending decisions.

“Integrating with Alba’s core banking engine, the nCino platform will enable the submission of loan applications, the monitoring of progress and the digital sharing of loan decisions, helping to reduce the time from application to review by Alba’s team of underwriters, and approval.

“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 focused on building out its team, operations and infrastructure.

“With full regulatory approval pending, Alba’s partnership with nCino will help to ensure that the Bank is technically and operationally ready to begin lending on day one.”

Alba Bank chief risk officer Andrew Lewis said: “To build Alba, we partnered with the very best technology providers in their fields to offer our customers a first-class banking experience.

“Partnering with nCino underlines this approach.

“nCino’s highly regarded Cloud Banking Platform will support our end-to-end lending needs, helping our expert underwriters to make quicker lending decisions for our customers, and allowing us to scale with speed and agility as we introduce more products and build our customer base.”

Charlie McIver, MD, EMEA at nCino, said: “We’re proud to partner with Alba Bank in their endeavor to revolutionize SME banking.

“Our technology is robust and adaptable, designed to support both emerging banks like Alba, and large established incumbents seeking to innovate and modernise.

“We’re excited to be on this journey with Alba as they scale and work to fulfill their mission.”