Allica Bank is a licensed UK bank for established SMEs: operating companies with employees, trading history and documented financial performance. It offers current and deposit accounts, overdrafts, commercial mortgages, asset finance, growth finance and bridging finance.
For 2025 Allica reported a third consecutive profitable year, a £3.7bn loan book and £5.7bn of deposits. In February 2026 the bank raised a $155m Series D at a valuation of approximately $1.2bn. This page covers products, pricing, client requirements, FSCS deposit protection and Allica's position among UK SME banks.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Status and supervision | UK bank with a full licence since 2019; supervised by the PRA and the FCA |
| Target segment | Established SMEs with 5–250 employees; UK operating companies |
| Deposit protection | FSCS up to £120,000 per depositor, across all accounts in aggregate |
| Entry threshold | Registered for 12 months or more; a £50,000 balance or an Allica loan; two years of accounts for credit |
| Key products | Business Rewards Account, Savings Pot, fixed deposits, overdraft, commercial mortgages, asset finance, growth finance, bridging |
| As of | Pricing as of August 2026; results for 2025 |
Company, licence and target market
The bank went through a renewed authorisation process and several stages of development. The company was founded in 2011 as CivilisedBank, reached a licence with restrictions in 2017, handed it back in order to finish building its technology platform, and passed authorisation again in 2019 — this time as Allica. A period of faster growth began after the appointment of CEO Richard Davies in July 2020: before that he was COO of Revolut, where he built the global banking platform, and the first CEO of OakNorth in 2013–2014, taking it through licensing; earlier still he held senior positions at HSBC, TSB and Barclays.
Davies's bet is the "established SME" segment with 5–250 employees. According to a June report by Oxford Economics for Allica, such companies account for 35% of private sector employment and 37% of its turnover, while the SME lending gap accumulated over 25 years is estimated at £65bn. The high street holds their current accounts but has cut personal managers and overdrafts; neobanks are busy with micro-businesses. Allica targets the segment between mass-market digital accounts for micro-businesses and the corporate divisions of large banks.
Deals, capital and 2025 results
The acquisition of an existing loan portfolio accelerated the bank's growth: in December 2021 Allica took from Ireland's AIB a GB SME loan portfolio of ≈£600m along with ≈2,000 clients. A run of deals followed: in August 2024 it bought bridging lender Tuscan Capital, and in October 2025 fintech Kriya with its invoice finance and embedded payments. Capital was raised in stages: a £110m Series B (Atalaya, 2021), a £100m Series C (TCV, December 2022) and a $155m Series D in February 2026 — Ventura Capital, GLG, Sona Asset Management plus existing investors TCV and Blue Owl, with part of the round structured as an Additional Tier 1 instrument.
The 2025 results, announced in April 2026, confirmed a third consecutive profitable year.
| Metric | 2025 | Year-on-year |
|---|---|---|
| Underlying pre-tax profit | £43.7m | +34% |
| Revenue | £371.3m | +27% |
| Loan book | £3.7bn | +23% |
| Deposits | £5.7bn | +29% |
| Flagship account users | over 14,000 | +133% |
Penetration of the target segment passed 6%; the stated goal is 10% by the end of 2028.
Products and pricing
The principal current-account product is the Business Rewards Account: a current account with a built-in Savings Pot; pricing is set out in the table.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None where the average balance is £10,000 or more; otherwise £25 a month (waived with an active credit product) |
| Card cashback | 1% on card spending; 1.5% above a £4,000 monthly threshold |
| Savings Pot, base | 2.83% AER, instant access (rate card dated 19 December 2025) |
| Payments boost | +0.5% for 15 or more outbound payments a month |
| CASS boost | +0.5% for six months for switching via CASS |
| Welcome boost | +0.25% for three months on deposits of £50,000 or more |
Base and all three boosts together give the maximum 4.08% AER.
The deposit range is broader: as of August 2026 the 12-month business fix pays 4.00% AER on amounts from £20,000 to £2m, with 6- and 24-month fixes and notice accounts also available. In February 2026 an overdraft of £25,000 – £2m was added, with an automated decision in a matter of days; an application can be filed before the account is opened. The bank describes the overdraft product as a response to the reduced availability of SME overdrafts: on its own research, since 2000 the volume of UK SME overdrafts has shrunk by more than 80% — from £18bn in today's prices to £2.7bn — while their share of SME lending has fallen from 31% to 5%.
The lending side has four lines; the three standard ones are set out in the table.
| Line | Amount | LTV / term | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial mortgages, owner-occupied | £150,000 – £10m | LTV up to 80%, up to 30 years | 1.5% arrangement fee |
| Commercial mortgages, investment property | £150,000 – £15m | LTV up to 75%, up to 30 years | 2.0% |
| Commercial mortgages, healthcare | up to £15m | up to 30 years | — |
| Asset finance: machinery, vehicles, robotics, medical equipment | £25,000 – £2.5m | up to 7 years, advances up to 100% | £295 documentation fee |
| Growth finance: term loan or revolver for MBOs, acquisitions and expansion | £1–15m for turnover from £5m | 3–6 years | priced individually |
Exiting a five-year mortgage fix follows a 5-4-3-2-1% ladder by year; the fourth line is bridging finance through the former Tuscan, now Allica Bridging.
Onboarding for the Business Rewards Account is designed for companies registered for at least 12 months, with a balance of £50,000 or more or an active Allica loan; the credit lines usually require two years of full accounts and registration in England, Scotland or Wales. These requirements exclude most start-ups and companies without sufficient operating history; the product is designed for established businesses with documented turnover and accounts. Across all lines £1.3bn of new credit was advanced in 2025.
Competitive landscape
Comparable providers can be grouped by target segment and product scope. The high street — Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest — holds the bulk of SME current accounts but has wound down overdrafts over a quarter of a century and moved managers into call centres. A separate segment consists of digital accounts for micro-businesses: Starling with its free tariff, Tide and Zempler with conveyor-belt onboarding — their economics are tuned for freelancers and micro-companies, and a business with 50 employees and secured borrowing needs finds it cramped there.
OakNorth is the closest in specialisation: also a licensed and profitable mid-market lender, but with noticeably larger tickets and without a current account as the anchor of the relationship (Davies, incidentally, was its first CEO). Allica combines for established SMEs a current account with cashback, deposits and five lending lines under one brand. Market drift helps: on British Business Bank data, challengers and specialist lenders already account for around 60% of gross SME lending.
Clients, availability and limitations
Eligible deposits at Allica are protected by FSCS up to the applicable statutory limit. The current account and savings products are designed for UK operating businesses, while credit is assessed individually against financial performance, collateral and debt-service capacity.
Onboarding is focused on UK companies with a documented operating history. Companies with non-resident beneficial owners may undergo enhanced KYC and source-of-funds or source-of-wealth review. Pure holding companies, newly incorporated SPVs and businesses outside the target segment may not be eligible.
Banking and operating model
The bank's operating model uses deposits to fund secured SME lending: deposits (£5.7bn) fund secured SME lending (£3.7bn), and on the 2025 accounts this machine delivered a net interest margin of 4.7% against 4.5% a year earlier. Cashback and the Savings Pot boosts are the price of attracting cheap operating balances: a current account gathers liquidity more cheaply than term deposits bought on the market. CET1 at year end was 13.4%, headcount grew 21% to 799 people, and £30m went into R&D and the bank's own AI.
Acquisitions have added loan portfolios, specialist teams and product capabilities. The AIB book delivered a ready portfolio and interest income from day one; Tuscan brought bridging expertise and a broker network; Kriya brought invoice finance, embedded payments with integrations at Halfords and Stripe, and a target of £1bn of working capital by 2028. The book's structure at the end of 2025:
| Line | Book |
|---|---|
| Commercial mortgages | £2.4bn |
| Asset finance | £507m |
| Growth finance | £171m |
| Bridging (former Tuscan) | £121m, +85% in 2025 |
Each acquisition reduced the time required to add the relevant product, while creating integration and control obligations.
The Series D included an Additional Tier 1 component, reflecting the regulatory-capital requirements of balance-sheet growth: banking growth runs into regulatory capital, and rounds have to be structured around PRA requirements, hybrid instruments included. The timeline shows the duration and capital intensity of building a licensed challenger bank: eight years from founding to a full licence, another seven to unicorn status. A banking licence pays for itself when the deposit base is matched by an in-house credit asset carrying a margin; at Allica that came together after a change of team, a portfolio purchase and a series of rounds.
Regulation and status
Allica's milestones by year:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Founded as CivilisedBank |
| 2019 | Full UK licence and the Allica name |
| 2020 | Arrival of Richard Davies |
| December 2021 | The AIB portfolio |
| December 2022 | £100m Series C (TCV) |
| August 2024 | The Tuscan acquisition |
| October 2025 | The Kriya acquisition |
| February 2026 | $155m Series D at a valuation of ≈$1.2bn |
| April 2026 | A third profitable year |
The bank is supervised by the PRA and the FCA, and deposits are covered by FSCS. The Series D money is earmarked for a first expansion beyond the UK; the specific market has not yet been named, and preparatory costs are already reflected in the accounts.
Q/A
Are deposits at Allica protected by the state?
Yes — this is a full bank, licensed in the UK since 2019: deposits are covered by FSCS up to £120,000 per depositor (the limit has applied since 1 December 2025) across all accounts in aggregate. Balances above the limit are sensibly spread across institutions.
Which companies is Allica suited to?
Established SMEs with 5–250 employees: the Business Rewards Account requires registration for at least 12 months and a balance of £50,000 or an active loan from the bank, while the credit lines usually require two years of full accounts. Young start-ups and pure holding layers will struggle to find a product here.
What rates and cashback does Allica offer?
As of August 2026: the Savings Pot pays up to 4.08% AER with boosts for active use of the account, and the 12-month business fix pays 4.00% AER from £20,000. Card cashback is 1% on spending and 1.5% above £4,000 a month.
What does Allica lend against, and within what limits?
Commercial mortgages from £150,000 to £15m at LTV up to 75–80%, asset finance of £25,000 – £2.5m over terms up to 7 years, growth finance of £1–15m for turnover from £5m, an overdraft of £25,000 – £2m and bridging through Allica Bridging. Pricing on larger deals is individual, and two years of accounts are the standard requirement.
How does Allica differ from fintech wallets for business?
By its own balance sheet and licence: money sits in the bank itself under FSCS, credit is advanced from its own funding, and service is built around a personal manager. Fintech wallets hold funds at partner banks and live under a different protection regime.