Afin Financial institution, a brand new digital financial institution planning to serve the African diaspora residing and dealing within the UK, is about to start lending subsequent yr, after securing a banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
Afin Financial institution plans to assist folks from Africa who discover it troublesome to get mortgages due to their nationality, visa standing or lack of credit score historical past within the UK, regardless of doing important jobs and operating their very own companies.
The brand new digital financial institution was granted a banking licence with restrictions, that means the mixture quantity of deposits held by the agency can’t exceed £50,000. Afin Financial institution will provide a variety of FSCS-protected financial savings merchandise to savers with a UK passport, in addition to UK residents from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
With plans to begin lending subsequent yr, it’ll provide residential and buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages to folks residing in England and Wales, in addition to BTL mortgages for debtors investing within the UK property market.
Afin Financial institution’s CEO is Jason Oakley, who co-founded SME lender Recognise Financial institution in 2021. Asserting the Financial institution’s new banking licence, Oakley mentioned: “This is a vital milestone for Afin Financial institution and demonstrates that we’re properly on our strategy to providing important monetary companies to the African diaspora who’re presently poorly served by mainstream suppliers.
“These are professionals working in important sectors akin to regulation, finance and well being, in addition to in lots of our main company corporations, or they’re creating wealth and alternatives within the UK. But they’ve discovered it troublesome to get the monetary help they want till now.
“Afin Financial institution will tear down the boundaries these under-served prospects face and provides them the merchandise they want from a financial institution they will belief. Extra than simply serving to them overcome these challenges, Afin Financial institution might be a financial institution the place prospects will really feel welcome and folks with various backgrounds are valued.”
Supporting nationals from West Africa and past
The inspiration for Afin Financial institution got here from the true experiences of Africans residing within the UK, notably from West Africa, struggling to construct banking relationships on this nation. Initially, Afin Financial institution will goal African nationals, of which there are greater than 1.5 million residing within the UK. Because the financial institution grows, it hopes to attraction to debtors from different under-served diaspora communities.
Afin Financial institution is backed by a dad or mum firm, WAICA Reinsurance Company Plc, one of many largest reinsurance firms in Africa. WAICA has dedicated £60million to Afin Financial institution, demonstrating its perception within the UK monetary companies sector and Afin Financial institution’s purpose of supporting an under-served buyer base.
Monica Velasquez, chief expertise officer at Afin Financial institution, was beforehand the CTO of Recognise Financial institution’s award-winning platform and a options engineer at Mambu. Velasquez mentioned: “Superior expertise is now a baseline expectation for monetary companies. At Afin Financial institution our purpose is to deeply perceive the boundaries our prospects face and create modern, customer-centric options swiftly.”
Along with an app, Afin Financial institution will use intermediaries and brokers for its lending merchandise. The financial institution may also construct partnerships with teams and organisations which might be a part of the African group, together with cultural networks and associations.
