Lloyds Bank agreed a five-year deal with Satago in March 2022 with the aim of delivering the first end-to-end digital single invoice finance and whole-book invoice factoring solution on a single platform offered by any UK bank.

To reflect its confidence in the arrangement, Lloyds invested £5m in Satago in exchange for a 20% equity stake.

The deal with Satago followed a competitive tender process and a six month trial of the technology. Satago was to be paid a recurring fee for each customer of the bank which utilised the platform, as well as one-off implementation fees.

The decision to pull out of the deal follows an "internal review", says Sataga parent TruFin. "The bank has decided to no longer prioritise the Satago platform and exercise its right to terminate the contract," it continues.

Ben Stephenson, the bank's representative on the board of Satago, will step down with immediate effect.

Satago says it will continue to service, support and meet the needs of those businesses which are currently using the platform.

In a statement, TruFin says: "The Board of TruFin believes that this decision is not a reflection of the quality or robustness of the Satago platform. It continues to believe in Satago's ability to generate significant value through its Lending as a Service Embedded Finance strategy, underscored by its ongoing successful partnerships with Sage and the Bank of Ireland, and its continued progression of a significant pipeline of other Tier-1 Banks and specialist lenders."

Shares in the vendor tanked in early-morning trading, plumetting by 32% as the markets digested the news.