Tandem Bank has acquired Loop, a money sharing app co-founded by the bank's chairman Paul Pester.
Launched in early 2022, Loop is a social network app focused exclusively on helping friends and family to lend and borrow money with each other. Pester teamed up with Anthony Thomson, the Metro Bank and Atom Bank founder, and former CompareTheMarket chief Matthew Donaldson to set up Loop.
Since its launch, Loop has targeted young professionals and students, reaching around two million people through its social and digital marketing activities.
Loop will continue to operate as a standalone app and brand, with plans to embed Tandem products and features in the Loop app, offering users access to a wider range of savings and lending services.
Tandem’s chief executive, Alex Mollart, comments: “Loop’s unique approach to money sharing offers users a real alternative to expensive overdrafts. Given the app’s early success among Gen-Z users, the acquisition of Loop gives us a fantastic opportunity to grow Tandem’s customer base among a generation of climate-conscious consumers.”
He says the board took measures to avoid any conflict of interest in the acquisition, with Pester recusing himself from the negotiations, which were overseen by senior independent director David Fisher.
A former CEO of TSB, Pester was forced to fall on his sword following a disastrous IT migration that knocked the bank offline for a number of weeks.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.