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PRIVACY
Professional Services

US finance group swoops for Birmingham Bank

Better said it was now planning to create 40 new jobs in the city on the back of buyout deal

From left: Birmingham Bank chief executive Matt Smith, Better chief executive Vishal Garg and Better European vice-president Michael Lamont

A bank set up in the 1950s to support small businesses has been sold to a US group.

Birmingham Bank, which is based at the Mailbox and provides consumer and commercial loan and deposit products, has been acquired by Better.

The bank can trace its roots back to 1955 when the National Federation of Ironmongers acquired a credit licence to operate a hire purchase scheme to compete with the terms offered by large department stores.

Its growth has been fuelled by demand from members in new vehicle finance and investment in equipment for their businesses.

New York-based Better was founded in 2016 and is a digital-first homeownership company whose services included mortgage, real estate and homeowners insurance.

Its º£½ÇÊÓÆµ arm is headquartered in London and it operates both domestic mortgage advisory and lending services. Last year, Better purchased a minority interest in Birmingham Bank and it has now acquired all of the remaining shares.

It said it was planning to create 40 jobs in Birmingham over the next three years following the buyout in fields such as business development, savings management, marketing, operations, finance, risk management and IT.