Validis, the provider of open accounting data analytics, announces its latest partnership with Bank North, the newly accredited SME-focused digital bank.

Having recently obtained a UK banking license (Authorisation with Restrictions), Bank North are set to open the doors to its first lending pod in Manchester later this year, before rolling out across the UK. Their de-centralised lending model is designed to deliver fast, flexible and borrower-friendly support to UK SMEs, built on seamlessly-integrated cloud-native banking technology. Coupled with an experienced relationship banking team, they are committed to deliver finance up to 10 times faster than the industry standard.

Bank North has chosen Validis to access and analyse SME accounting using its single API that will streamline the underwriting process and enable faster access to funding via their innovative lending pods.

An established UK fintech with operations in the US, Validis supports a wide-range of large UK banks and lenders who use its platform to instantly access data from major accounting packages. Bank North are the latest UK-focused lender to choose Validis.

Paul Thomas, CEO of Validis said, “Bank North are an exciting new entrant to the UK market, with an ambitious vision and ground-breaking model that will provide much-needed funding to UK businesses to help them thrive. I’m delighted that we’ve been chosen to support the team as they embark on an exciting launch phase – providing access to on-demand accounting data through our API will deliver the rich insight needed to help power their lending and customer management processes and support their SME borrower community”.

Ewan Hutton, CTO of Bank North said, “Using the Validis API will enable Bank North to harness valuable accounting analytics to support our SME customers in getting the finance that they need to grow. We look forward to working with the Validis team to deploy the API to our lending pod teams who will use the software as a vital part of our technology-enabled cloud banking system. As we move towards launch, Bank North must continue to select high-quality service providers, such as Validis, to help us to deliver the most robust, secure, and customer-centric lending bank in the UK.”