Atom Bank: A remote team for the UK’s first fully digital bank

About the project

Atom Bank is a modern retail bank in the UK. What sets it apart is its fresh take on what a “bank” can be. There are no branches on the high street, no paper leaflets, and no “elevator music” while waiting in line. In fact, there are no lines at all. Atom lives in your pocket. And it is safe too, as the first fully digital bank to receive a full UK regulatory license. Atom is a real bank, not just another “financial app.”

When Atom Bank reached out to us in June 2021, we were excited. Every new project feels like the start of a journey and a chance to work with another unicorn. The brief revealed the complexity of building the UK’s first fully digital bank. We knew this challenge matched both our mission and the client’s ambitions.

Business challenge

The IT sector was moving fast, and mobile banking was surging. Global market conditions pushed this growth and created a shortage of tech specialists in the UK. On top of this, Brexit blocked access to foreign talent. As a result, Atom Bank’s growth slowed down.

Atom Bank needed a solution that fit its goals and aspirations. They sought experienced fintech software developers who could strengthen the existing UK team and expand engineering capacity. This would allow them to deliver business changes faster and keep their growth on track.

Problems that Atom Bank faced:

• Shortage of skilled developers in the UK talent pool

• High salary expectations in the UK IT sector

• Most IT professionals concentrated in London

• Market fluctuations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

• Brexit and its resulting restrictions

Problems we faced:

• High market demand for top-quality IT experts

• Low recognition of the Atom Bank brand in Poland

• Need to position Atom Bank as a real employer for developers, not just our client

• Limited number of IT specialists with banking experience

Business solution

After several meetings, we reached a conclusion. The solution was to build a new, fully functional team of 30 developers and establish the foundations for Atom Bank’s nearshore engineering hub in Poland. The goal was to complete this in fewer than 12 months. The agreement followed an innovative Build-Operate-Transfer model, which allowed Atom Bank to take ownership of the hub after a set period.

Why Poland?

The choice of Poland was no surprise. The country has become a software powerhouse within the EU in recent years.

Key facts:

• Poland is a leader in mobile and online banking. Nearly half of the population uses mobile banking. It was ranked 34th in the world for digital economy strength (Digital Intelligence Index, 2020).

• During EU Code Week 2020, Poland organized the most activities and attracted the highest number of participants in the EU (Digital Economy and Society Index, 2021).

• Poland is among the top four employers in R&D and ICT in the EU27, alongside France, Germany, and Italy (Digital Economy and Society Index, 2021).

• By 2021, Poland had more than 600,000 software developers, the largest talent pool in the CEE region.

• The country also offers modern infrastructure and a strong legal framework, which makes it easier and safer for Western companies to set up operations.

Achievements after the first eight months

• We completed Atom Bank’s nearshore engineering team two months ahead of schedule. The average time to contract was less than four weeks.

• Over 30 senior engineers joined Atom Bank’s dream team, covering seven technologies: .NET, React, Golang, Java, iOS, Android, and SRE/DevOps. Their experience ranged from strong mid-levels to technical leaders.

• We helped increase Atom Bank’s delivery speed, especially for the mobile app. This led to a significant rise in both new features and releases in 2021.

• We built strong trust between our developers and Atom Bank. In fact, 100% of our developers surveyed expressed interest in transferring to Atom Bank.

• We earned Atom Bank’s trust beyond engineering recruitment. Our support now extends into RPA, AI, Business Analysis, and VBA.

• We conducted two 360-degree feedback sessions.

• We organized two Agile training sessions led by our coaches.