Cashplus hires Chief HR Officer as it continues to strengthen team ahead of bank licence approval

• New Chief HR Officer Helen Cowper previously held senior HR, IT and change roles at Co-Op and Virgin Money
• Appointment latest in string of senior appointments including Chief Risk Officer, Operations Director, Credit Director, Treasurer and Corporate Affairs Director
• Cashplus expects to receive full UK bank licence approval in first half of 2020

London 23 January 2020: Cashplus, the leading SME-focused UK bank challenger, has hired Helen Cowper as Chief Human Resources officer as it continues to strengthen its senior team in the run up to approval of its full UK banking licence.

Cowper, who previously held senior HR and business change roles at Virgin Money, Sage and Barclays, and was most recently Chief of Staff to the CIO at the Co-op Group, will take responsibility for Cashplus’ people strategy as the company rolls out expansion plans, including a drive to double its headcount by 2022.

Rich Wagner, CEO and Founder said: “I’m delighted to welcome Helen permanently to my executive team. Our talented, hardworking people have always been key to our ability to deliver better banking services to UK small businesses and consumers. As we become a bank, we’ll be entering a new phase of growth and attracting, engaging and retaining top talent will be critical to our success.”

Cowper has been working with Cashplus on an interim basis for the last 12 months and in that time has overseen the company’s successful entry to the Senior Manager and Certification Regime (an important regulatory requirement for UK banks), the development of a new reward strategy and a string of senior appointments  including Credit Director, Rahul Duseja; Treasurer, Tom Dolan and Corporate Affairs Director, Alex Moorhouse.

Cashplus expects to receive approval for its full bank licence in the first half of 2020. As a bank the company will have access to c.£400m in deposits and will significantly increase its lending to the UK SMEs and consumers overlooked by high street banks.

Helen Cowper said: “This is a hugely exciting time to join Cashplus. Rich and his team have created a strong and sustainable business as one of the UK’s only profitable fintech challengers and I am proud to be part of it. We have a unique opportunity to attract talent and see significant growth over the next few years. Our people and culture are without a doubt the key to this.

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About Cashplus

Cashplus is a leading specialist UK digital challenger to banks for small businesses and consumers. We offer faster, smarter, simpler banking services for the entrepreneurs, independent businesses and individuals that power the UK economy, yet are too often overlooked by high street banks.

Since 2005, we’ve created easier ways for more than 1.6m customers to pay, store and borrow money through our user-friendly digital platform.

We understand what our customers need – time and money to run their businesses and live their lives – and our secure, innovative products are designed to help, where others can’t or won’t.

A true fintech pioneer, we are a fast-growing and credible challenger to UK high street banks.

Media contact

Alex Moorhouse
Corporate Affairs Director
[email protected]

+44 (0)7834 780299