Green challenger Tandem Bank acquires consumer lender Oplo 

Following completion of the acquisition, which has received regulatory approval and is set to complete before the end of January, Tandem will have more than £1.2bn of total assets, £1bn of funding and more than 171,000 customers. 

The acquisition will create a digital bank with a complementary consumer lending platform. It will mean Tandem’s product offering is broadened across a range of consumer lending products, including first and second charge mortgages, home improvement loans, car finance and personal lending. 

Tandem’s chief executive Susie Aliker will head up the business, supported by Oplo founder Alex Mollart, who will be deputy chief executive. 

Aliker said: “This is a really exciting moment for Tandem – by combining with Oplo we will create a bank totally focused on helping our customers to make fairer and greener financial choices.”

Mollart added: “We have built Oplo into one of the UK’s leading consumer lenders with a clear mission to offer financially fair lending products, helping hard-working people across the UK who are often overlooked and underserved by traditional lenders.

“Joining forces with Tandem creates a powerful new force which will enable us to launch smart products and develop new technologies to support even more consumers in their everyday financial lives.”

The firms are each portfolio companies of private equity investor Pollen Street Capital, which spearheaded the acquisition. 

Pollen Street Capital partner Matthew Potter said: “We are excited to announce the combination of Tandem and Oplo and to work with Susie and Alex to build the UK’s leading consumer green digital bank. 

“The combined business will have great foundations, both in Oplo’s strong asset origination capabilities as well as in the digital banking platform and green proposition of Tandem.”