London, 30 July 2025 – Thought Machine, the prominent cloud-native banking technology provider, has announced a strategic partnership with digital bank Zopa to power the launch of its flagship current account, Biscuit. This collaboration is central to Zopa’s expansion into everyday banking, leveraging Thought Machine’s advanced core banking platform, Vault Core, to provide a competitive and customer-focused banking experience.

Vault Core, Thought Machine’s next-generation cloud-native platform, underpins the Biscuit account, enabling Zopa to reduce time to market significantly. The bank progressed from a beta launch in September 2024 to a full rollout in June 2025. This rapid development cycle reflects the flexibility and scalability of Vault Core, which allows real-time data processing and highly configurable product development free from legacy constraints. The technology is noted for serving major institutions such as Lloyds, Standard Chartered, and Intesa Sanpaolo, as well as challenger banks including C6 and Atom Bank.

Biscuit offers compelling features designed to attract everyday banking customers. It includes a 7.10% Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) on monthly deposits up to £300, 2% cashback on bill payments, and 2% AER interest on all balances. These benefits complement Zopa’s existing portfolio, which spans personal loans, flexible cash ISAs, credit cards, car finance, and savings products. The account is intended to combine great value with an intuitive digital experience, reflecting Zopa’s commitment to simplifying money management for UK consumers.

Merve Ferrero, Chief Strategy Officer at Zopa Bank, described the launch as a natural step in the bank’s mission to become the “Home of Money.” Speaking to Disruption Banking, Ferrero emphasised that the account aims to improve customer value and ease, challenging the complexity and poor experience often found in banking. The partnership with Thought Machine is seen as pivotal in delivering this vision, thanks to its strong engineering capabilities and cloud-native approach.

Thought Machine’s CEO and founder, Paul Taylor, praised Zopa Bank’s growth trajectory, citing its doubling of profits and commitment to operational excellence. He highlighted the strategic role technology plays in Zopa’s ability to move quickly and innovate, positioning the bank to lead in the competitive UK market.

Zopa Bank, founded in 2020 with full UK banking authorization, has built a reputation for reliability and customer focus, having lent over £13 billion in the UK. It is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority and holds accolades including the UK’s best Personal Loan Provider and Credit Card Provider for 2024 at the British Bank Awards.

Besides product innovation, Zopa is expanding its operational footprint by opening a regional office in Manchester, aimed at adding up to 500 staff in the coming years, including software engineers. This move is part of Zopa’s broader strategy to engage with Manchester’s robust technology ecosystem and enhance its nationwide service capabilities.

In terms of broader impact, Zopa is also active in industry-wide financial resilience efforts. It leads the 2025 Fintech Pledge alongside ClearScore, aiming to help UK consumers improve financial health by facilitating savings, credit score improvements, and debt management. The Pledge has reportedly surpassed 15 million actions, underscoring Zopa’s commitment beyond traditional banking products.

Overall, Zopa’s partnership with Thought Machine demonstrates how modern cloud-native infrastructure can enable challenger banks to compete effectively with established players by delivering innovative, customer-centric financial products swiftly and at scale.

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Source: Noah Wire Services