Who ClearBank is
ClearBank launched in 2017 as the first new UK clearing bank in more than 250 years, connected directly to the UK's payment infrastructure. ClearBank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. Its European entity, ClearBank Europe N.V. in Amsterdam, is authorised by the European Central Bank and regulated by De Nederlandsche Bank.
It works with fintechs, payment and e-money firms, banks, building societies and corporates, and has no consumer products of its own. Through its embedded banking, partners offer accounts under their own brand on ClearBank's licence, which is why it is one of the banking-as-a-service providers our Accounts & IBANs module connects to.
What it does in your platform
Accounts & IBANs
In the UK, holds your customers' accounts on its own banking licence, each with a sort code and account number, on Faster Payments, Bacs and CHAPS, with Confirmation of Payee. In euros, ClearBank Europe provides accounts and virtual accounts with their own IBANs, on SEPA and SEPA Instant, with Verification of Payee.
How the connection works
One connector in the Accounts & IBANs module talks to ClearBank's API. Every request with a body carries a digital signature made with your private key, and ClearBank's webhooks come back signed by ClearBank.
The customer is checked
The customer passes your KYC checks in our KYC / AML module, and the module creates them at ClearBank with the details its embedded banking needs.
An account opens
ClearBank opens the account in the customer's name, with a sort code and account number ready to share.
Money arrives
A Faster Payment comes in. ClearBank settles it and sends a signed webhook to say the transaction has settled.
The ledger books it
The module checks the signature, answers the webhook to confirm receipt, and posts the payment to the ledger and the customer's statement within seconds.
Money goes out
When the customer pays someone, the module sends a signed payment request, and ClearBank's webhooks report it settled or explain why it was rejected.
Next to other providers
ClearBank covers sterling accounts and, through ClearBank Europe, euro accounts. The module talks to every banking partner through the same interface, so the app, the ledger and the statements look the same whichever partner holds an account.
Changing partner later does not change the app. The accounts themselves move under the new partner's licence, which means new account details for customers, a move we plan with you.
When ClearBank fits best
A strong fit when
- Your customers need UK accounts at a bank connected directly to Faster Payments, Bacs and CHAPS.
- You want sterling and euro accounts from one banking group.
- You want FSCS-protected embedded accounts under your brand, on a bank's licence.
Also worth a look
- Griffin, another UK bank built for embedded accounts.
- A euro-first provider such as Swan or Treezor, when most customers bank in the eurozone.
How we get you live
The contract
We help you get your ClearBank account and contract in place, for the UK, the EU or both.
The accounts
We set up with you the account types, the virtual accounts behind euro IBANs, and the customer details ClearBank needs for embedded accounts.
The keys
The API token stays in your platform's secrets, and the private key that signs requests lives in a hardware security module, as ClearBank requires in production.
A full test run
The whole flow runs in ClearBank's simulation environment first, from a new account to payments in and out.
