2026 / Best Banking as a Service Provider

ClearBank

A regulated bank behind the API.

ClearBank gives fintechs and businesses access to protected accounts, real-time payment rails, and embedded banking services through one API-led platform.

Selection rationale

Why it was selected

Banking as a service works only when the infrastructure and the regulated responsibility stay aligned. ClearBank operates as the bank, not only as middleware between a product and a sponsor institution.

ClearBank ended 2025 with 279 clients, 17.1 million accounts, £17.8 billion in deposits, and 262 million payment transactions. It reported that £15.9 billion of deposits were eligible for UK deposit protection and that the UK bank remained profitable for a third year.ClearBank 2025 annual reportClearBank FY2025 results, April 2026

The panel selected ClearBank because its current record joins scale, deposit protection, direct payment access, and bank-level accountability. Its totals include clearing and agency clients, so the 17.1 million accounts are evidence of the whole bank's operating scale, not a BaaS-only count.

User protection

Keeps regulated-bank responsibility and eligible deposit protection inside the service.

Execution

Processed 262 million payments in 2025 while expanding across the UK and Europe.

Durable value

Reported a third consecutive profitable year for its UK bank.