Ziglu partners with ClearBank to offer virtual GBP bank accounts

By Joy Dumasia

ClearBank, the cloud-based clearing bank, announced that it provides agency banking services to the UK-based money app Ziglu. ClearBank’s technological infrastructure, regulated payment rails and treasury management service have bolstered Ziglu’s banking and investment offerings, enabling Ziglu to offer virtual GBP accounts to its customers. 

Charles McManus, ClearBank’s CEO, said: “Ziglu represents all that is exciting about FinTech and finance today. With a keen sense of what their banking, investment and crypto customers will want to see next, Ziglu is perfectly poised to continue growing in 2022 and beyond. ClearBank is very pleased to have partnered with Ziglu and to provide safeguarded Virtual GBP Accounts, and we look forward to expanding the proposition together for a long time to come.” 

ClearBank powers Ziglu’s real-time processing and reporting for its GBP virtual accounts, using API and cloud-based solutions, allowing products to be modified at speed in a live environment. The virtual accounts provide Ziglu customers access to all the UK payments schemes, including real-time payments via Faster Payments. As well as making these customer-facing enhancements, ClearBank’s embedded banking platform has improved operational efficiencies, allowing Ziglu customer teams to resolve missing or pending payment queries. 

ClearBank’s platform gives Ziglu’s end-customers safeguarded accounts, removing third-party credit risk. ClearBank payments are cleared in-house, and funds held securely at the Bank of England are not used for investment purposes. The two firms are currently exploring a future partnership phase to offer FSCS protected accounts to Ziglu’s customers. 

Mark Hipperson, Founder and CEO of Ziglu, said: “Ziglu will continue to champion the ClearBank platform. The improvements we’ve been able to deliver to customers through ClearBank have had a remarkable effect on user satisfaction. ClearBank offers us the best of both worlds, all the security of traditional banking, along with the means to quickly adapt and satisfy our digital-native customer base.” 

Ziglu entered the market with a strong emphasis on customer experience, providing in-app lifestyle management tools and a distinctive physical debit card to support fiat and cryptocurrency transactions, FX services in Sterling, Euro and US Dollar and investments. 

IBS Intelligence reported that ClearBank, the largest next-generation clearing and embedded banking platform in the UK, announced a £175 million equity investment. The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity arm of Apax, a leading global private equity advisory firm.