ClearBank

ClearBank is both. It holds a full UK banking licence and a European banking licence, which allows it to safeguard client funds at the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. It also operates as a pure infrastructure provider, offering its cloud-based API to financial institutions that want to embed banking and payment capabilities without building their own banking stack. The firm does not operate a retail brand or compete with the businesses using its platform.

ClearBank’s disclosed client segments include acquirers, banks, large-scale corporates, digital asset platforms, fintechs, pre-regulated firms, non-bank financial institutions, and building societies. Named recent clients include Fiat Republic, which went live on the SEPA Indirect scheme, and Tazapay, a Singapore-based payments firm strengthening the Asia–Europe corridor. The firm does not publicly maintain a complete client list.

ClearBank holds its own banking licences in the United Kingdom and Europe, rather than operating through a partner bank. Client funds are held with central banks — the Bank of England for UK operations and the European Central Bank for its European entity. This direct central-bank access is a structurally different approach from many banking-as-a-service platforms that rely on a sponsor bank’s licence.

No. ClearBank does not have a consumer-facing brand or any direct retail deposit-taking operations. Its model is strictly business-to-business: it provides the regulated infrastructure, accounts, and clearing that other firms embed into their own customer-facing products. The firm states explicitly that it competes neither with its clients nor with their end customers.

ClearBank generates revenue from transaction volumes, account fees, and clearing services tied to its API, rather than from net interest margin or lending activities — though it holds a banking licence and can hold deposits. The firm’s stated growth alignment is that its revenue scales with the volume its clients process, which structurally aligns its incentives with client growth rather than with selling ancillary financial products.

ClearBank connects to core UK payment schemes through its cloud-based API, and it has recently added SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) access through its European entity. The firm has not published an exhaustive list of scheme memberships. Its SEPA connectivity went live with Fiat Republic in 2024.

ClearBank facilitates fiat-currency account and payment services for regulated digital asset platforms, providing on- and off-ramp clearing between fiat and crypto. In 2024 it launched Digital Asset Rails through its European entity, which is designed to provide programmable liquidity for cross-border flows involving digital assets. The firm does not hold or custody crypto assets itself — it provides the regulated fiat infrastructure layer.