OneBanks, developer of a pop up kiosk format which can provide face-to-face banking services on behalf of multiple banks and financial services clients, has hired Andy Willmot, chief digital architect at Lloyds Banking Group, as its first CTO.
With banks progressively moving away from the High Street, the idea of creating shared banking hubs to maintain localised access to financial services has been gaining momentum.
OneBanks is promising to provide bank-agnostic in-branch services - such as cash withdrawals, deposits, payments, and face-to-face support - for people and SMEs in communities where traditional bricks and mortar branches have disappeared.
The startup's quick to assemble pop-up kiosks use Open Banking technology from a number of tech partners, including Endava, Trust Stamp, Nuapay, NCR and Accenture Business, to provide immediate access to financial accounts from multiple banks. As a shared facility, the cost is split between multiple financial institions.
OneBanks in December launched its first pilot kiosk in the town of Denny, Scotland, which has had no local bank branch for two years. The fully staffed kiosk, which has created seven new roles for local people, will be open from 7am until 10pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 6pm on weekends.
Willmot brings over 25 years’ financial technology experience to OneBanks, joining from Lloyds Banking Group, where he was responsible for developing the architecture and engineering of the UK bank's mobile and web digital platforms.
He says that OneBanks promises to address the needs of banking customers and communities with an affordable way of providing the physical interaction customers value.
"OneBanks is solving a key problem we’ve had in banking for some time - costly bank branches - with an approach is based on deploying the latest technology," he says. "OneBanks is maximising Open Banking for the benefit of all customers - truly delivering on the promise of financial inclusion for all.”