Anthony Thomson

In its first three years Metro Bank opened in twenty locations and attracted over 200,000 customer accounts with its innovative Marketing and customer friendly opening hours. Thomson is now creating a digital online only bank called Atom to capitalise on the huge growth in banking apps – it launches later this year.

Thomson is an enthusiastic consumer champion who is turning banking on its head – he’s proved himself to be a highly agile businessman and is a hugely entertaining speaker.

Before banking, Anthony Thomson founded City Financial marketing in 1987 which, by the time he sold it to Publicis in 1997, was Europe’s largest financial services marketing and communications group. After a year off he co-founded the financial-services marketing advisory body The Financial Services Forum of which he is still chairman. He has also been Chairman National Skills Academy for Financial Services – the leading body for training & development in the financial services industry. He is Non- Executive Director of Agiliti which provides a hosted ‘pay as you grow’ retail banking technology offering, available on a modular basis.

Thomson has been re-inventing banking since 2007 when he first came up with Metro Bank. The idea was to give customers innovative banking with top class customer service which included 24 hour opening and perks like free dog biscuits. But he quickly recognised that this Challenger Bank model was being disrupted by growing tablet and mobile phone banking and so created plans for a digital only bank – Atom which is set to launch later this year. Based in Durham, Atom will be a bank for the 21st Century with a full range of personal and business banking products including current and savings accounts, as well as loan products and credit cards. “Our aim is to make it so simple to operate online that it is faster than the time it takes to call someone.” Anthony Thomson.

He is a regularly asked to speak at events which have included those at LSE and Cass Business School and has made many media appearances including a spell on the money panel on Sky News and on the panel of the ITV Business Club.

In 2010, he was included in Marketing Magazine’s ‘Power and influence top 100’ and was named one of the top 60 most influential people in the City by the Evening Standard.

He has been a visiting Professor at the London Metropolitan University Business School and is co-founder of Moneyspinners which organises annual cycle rides for financial services executives to raise money for good causes.

Anthony Thomson’s Current / Past Roles & Positions

• Chairman of the first new bank to launch on British high streets in 150 years
• Founder and chairman of the online only Atom Bank
• Founder of the largest financial services marketing company in Europe
• Chairman the Financial Services Forum
• Named in top 60 most influential people in the City by the Evening Standard