Rebranded bank joins battle for savers offering ‘human-to-human’ connection

A new British bank aiming to offer human-centric customer service and encourage loyalty has launched following a major rebrand.

Thisbank has been formed from the UK arm of Jamaica National Group, known as JN Group, after being sold in 2024.

It enters the UK market with interest rates of 3.76% on an easy access savings account and 3.99% on a range of one- to five-year fixed deposit accounts.

These compete with rates offered by many high street bank accounts but fall short of market-leading rates by the likes of JP Morgan’s Chase and Santander’s Cahoot.

However, the bank hopes to tackle the prevalence of so-called “loyalty penalties” by ensuring that existing customers will never be offered a lower rate than new applicants.

It is also committing to human-centric customer service that means people can always speak directly to a person for help or support.

There are no current plans to open physical bank branches so contact will be through staff at a call centre.

Chris Waring, the chief executive, said: “Our people-first approach means replicating the human-to-human connection you used to receive in your local banking branch to today’s times.

“We focus our people on ensuring our customer journey is as polished, easy and simple to use as possible.”

He added that customers will be “never more than one selection away from a human being at our call centre” to tackle their problems.

Thisbank, which also offers lending products, is backed by UK and US investment and under the leadership of Mr Waring.

The banking and private equity veteran previously developed a consumer credit company that was sold to Tandem Bank and helped launch the 118 118 money business.

Thisbank is majority owned by Step One Money, which bought the entity prior to it undergoing a rebrand and is backed by US-based investment fund SPF.

Mr Waring hailed building a “profitable, fast-growing bank in under a year” and stressed that it was focused on making banking “about people, not just numbers”.