Tandem Money is a UK company that owns Tandem Bank, a British challenger bank.
Overview and History
The company was founded by Ricky Knox, Matt Cooper and Michael Kent in 2013. In December 2016, Tandem announced that it had secured a £35 million investment from The Sanpower Group, the Chinese company that also owns the department storeHouse of Fraser; however, £29 million of this investment was later revoked by Sanpower over concerns that the Chinese Government would object to the investment following increased restrictions on outbound investment in China. This resulted in a delay in the launch of Tandem's savings products, which, at the time of the revocation, was expected imminently and, more importantly, meant that Tandem volunteered the return of their banking license but retained all other permissions. In August 2017, it was announced that Tandem would fully acquire Harrods Bank, in a deal that would bring a near-£200m loan book, over £300m of deposits and nearly £80 million of capital.
Features
Tandem has introduced an 'Autosavings' feature, designed to help users save money. Using a number of rules, the account automatically puts money aside based on the user's spending habits. Tandem has launched two versions of credit cards. The first, called Journey, has been launched for people with limited credit history, helping them build up their credit score. The Cashback card gave users 0.5% cashback on worldwide purchases, with an initial credit limit from £500 to £12,000. On 8 January 2020, Tandem announced it would be discontinuing its Cashback card, replacing it with the Tandem Membership. Tandem Membership launches on 9 March 2020, with any existing Cashback card holders having their accounts closed.
Subsidiaries
Tandem Bank
Tandem Bank is a British bank based in London, wholly owned by Tandem Money. It is focused on banking through mobile applications.
History of Tandem Bank
Tandem originates from Tandem Money, a UK challenger bank that obtained its banking licence in 2015 and subsequently lost it. In 2018, Tandem Money acquired Harrods Bank and renamed it as Tandem Bank, to operate under its existing licence. This allowed the business to continue trading. The company was founded by Ricky Knox, Matt Cooper and Michael Kent in 2013. Prior to its sale to Tandem Money, Harrods Bank catered for high-net-worth individuals and operated from the Harrods store in Knightsbridge, London. It offered a variety of personal and business current and savings accounts, mortgages, foreign currency and gold bullion trading services. In 1991, the House of CommonsTrade and Industry Committee ordered the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Robin Leigh-Pemberton, to order the owners of Harrods, Mohamed Al-Fayed, and his brother Ali Al-Fayed, to transfer control of the Harrods Bank to trustees after they found that the Fayeds were not "fit and proper" to run the bank. On 7 August 2017, Tandem Money Limited announced a deal to acquire 100% of Harrods Bank Limited shares. The purchase deal closed successfully on 11 January 2018. In March 2018, Tandem agreed to acquire Pariti Technologies Limited, developers of the Pariti money management application.
