P2P lender Zopa has begun building the executive team for the launch of its new challenger bank later this year, appointing a CFO, chief risk officer and chief customer officer.
Zopa plans to launch a next generation bank offering FSCS-protected deposit accounts for savers, a range of peer-to-peer investment products for investors, and personal loans, car finance, and credit cards for people looking to borrow.
The company has secured £32 million in funding to help support the build-out of the new bank’s technology infrastructure and opened a developer centre in Barcelona to work on coding for payment gateways, credit card processing, and deposit systems.
For the new executive posts, Zopa has plucked people with experience of the challenger bank scene, incumbent banking and non-bank branding.
Chief financial officer Steve Hulme joins from Tandem Money where he was CFO for the last two years. Before Tandem, Hulme served as CFO for PayPal’s global credit business and as CFO for Capital One’s UK and Canadian business.
He will be joined by former TSB man Phillip Dransfield as chief risk officer. Dransfield has a 20-year track record in risk management taking in two of the counttry's largest high street banks.
The left-field appointment of chief marketing officer goes to Clare Gambardella from health and fitness brand Virgin Active. For her new role, Gambardella will bring her experience in managing marketing for Virgin Active’s international network of 270 health clubs to bear on the Zopa brand as it moves into the banking arena.
Jaidev Janardana, Zopa’s CEO, comments: “We’re delighted to have three high profile and exceptionally talented people join the business. Our people are our biggest competitive advantage and these additions further strengthen our position.”