Tandem Bank acquires lender Oplo to form green digital bank

UK-based Tandem Bank has acquired consumer lender Oplo to create a “fairer, greener” digital bank, which will be led by Tandem CEO Susie Aliker.

The combined business will have total assets of £1.2 billion, including £230 million in green lending, £1 billion of funding and a customer base of more than 171,000 customers serviced by a UK-based team of 500 people.

The acquisition has been agreed by both Tandem Bank’s and Oplo’s boards, with approval from both the companies’ major shareholders.

The deal is expected to be completed before the end of January 2022.

Following the acquisition, Tandem’s product offering will broaden to include a range of consumer lending products, including first and second charge mortgages, home improvement loans, car finance and personal lending.

Aliker, who joined as CEO of Tandem in May 2021, said that the combined bank will be “totally focused on helping our customers to make fairer and greener financial choices”.

“The two businesses are a great fit, bringing together a complementary range of lending and savings products, with a shared common purpose to make a difference for our people, customers and the planet,” she said.

“With our flexible digital platform, new enlarged scale and strong profitability, Tandem is fantastically well positioned to become one of the UK’s leading digital banks.”

Tandem Bank was founded in 2014 and, in 2018, acquired Harrods Bank and obtained a full UK banking licence.

In 2020, the bank bought Allium Lending Group in August, and went onto acquire B&C Mortgages in December that year.

Aliker will be supported in her new role by Oplo founder Alex Mollart, who will become deputy chief executive of the combined business.

Mollart added: “We have built Oplo into one of the UK’s leading consumer lenders with a clear mission to offer financially fair lending products, helping hardworking people across the UK who are often overlooked and underserved by traditional lenders.

“Joining forces with Tandem creates a powerful new force which will enable us to launch smart products and develop new technologies to support even more consumers in their everyday financial lives.”

The transaction was spearheaded by Pollen Street Capital.

Main image, left to right: Tandem Bank CEO Susie Aliker and Oplo founder Alex Mollart.