Frequently Asked Questions

Atom is a bank that’s all about you.

We’re entirely app-based, so we don’t have any physical branches. We offer fixed-term savings accounts (Fixed Savers) and mortgages, all through your smartphone or tablet. We’ve also launched business loans currently available through a small panel of brokers.

Wherever is most convenient for you. At home, on the train, in the queue at the supermarket…wherever your smartphone or tablet is, we’re there too. Physically, our HQ is in Durham, and we have a small London office too.

Atom’s a privately-owned company with a broad range of shareholders, including BBVA, Woodford Investment Management and Toscafund Asset Management. To find out more, visit our investors page.

Interested in joining a bank that’s built around you? Of course you are. All you have to do is download the app.

Keep up to date with how we’re revolutionising banking, by subscribing to our newsletter.

We're always interested in talking to passionate people who have drive and an entrepreneurial spirit. If that sounds like you, head over to our careers page and see what we’ve got to offer.

We're branch-free and proud of it. Because we don’t have branches, we can keep our overheads down and pass the savings on to you with really competitive rates. You simply do all your banking on your smartphone or tablet.

But don’t worry, we’re always here to talk. You can catch our Customer Support Team 24/7 over email, app chat, social media or phone.

To open a Fixed Saver account, go to the Fixed Saver page. To find out more about our mortgages, visit our mortgages page.

At least 18 years old.

Afraid not. We’re an app-based bank, and you can only open an account with us through your smartphone or tablet. You can find a list of compatible devices here.

Unfortunately not. You can only become a customer if you're a UK resident. If you’re going to reside overseas temporarily, you must let us know as you may have difficulties using and updating our app. If you’re going for 3 years or longer, we’ll need you to close your account.

When you apply to become a customer, we’ll ask you for some personal details so we can verify your identity. The exact details we’ll need will vary depending on what you’re applying for, but will always include information like your full name, address and date of birth.

To complete the identification and verification (‘ID&V’) process, we'll run an identity search with a credit reference agency. If you apply for a savings product, this will leave a ‘soft footprint’ on your credit file, so won’t affect your credit history. If you apply for a mortgage, it’ll leave a ‘credit footprint’ on your file which means other providers will be able to see that we’ve run a search.

There are times when we may ask you to complete ID&V again (to keep our records up to date if you move house, for example).

There are a few reasons why you might not have been able to open an account. Often, declines are due to mistakes in your personal details, which stop us matching your data with credit agencies.

To minimise this risk, please make sure the details you provided are correct and up-to-date, and that the bank details you’ve given us are from a UK current account in your name.

When you apply for an account you don't need any paper documents. We just verify your identity electronically through the app. On the odd occasion that we do need more info, we always try and keep it to an absolute minimum.

For our savings and mortgage products you can do all your banking in the app. However, if you need a friendly voice to assist you with something, please contact our Customer Support Team. We also have a range of helpful videos on our YouTube channel.

Safe – visit our Security page.

When a loved one dies, dealing with their finances is probably the last of your worries. We do everything we can to make the process as stress-free as possible.

When you get in touch, we’ll ask you to send us a certified copy of the death certificate. If you’re not a customer, we’ll need to check your ID, your passport or driving licence will be ideal. If possible, please have account numbers to hand when you call us, as this will allow us to trace the accounts and get things started for you quickly.

If you have any further questions about our bereavement process, simply call us. Lines are open 24/7.

When your account is due to mature we will notify you well in advance through notifications in your Atom app, and through SMS and email. These notifications will guide you through the next steps and what your options are upon maturity. All instructions can be given and acted upon within the app to make this as easy as possible for you.

We want you to be happy with us. If you have any issues, please drop us a note and we’ll do our very best to resolve your complaint by the end of the next business day.

If we can't do this, we’ll do one of two things:

• We'll either contact you within three working days to tell you what we've done to resolve the issue; or
• We'll acknowledge your complaint and let you know when you can expect a full response.

The best way to get in touch is by email, and you you'll find us at customersupport@atombank.co.uk. We’ll acknowledge your email within four hours of getting it in our inbox.

If you’ve got our app, log in, click on the help button and you can chat to us straight away.

Or, if you’d prefer to send a letter, our address is:

PO Box 105,

Blyth,

NE24 9DU

If we haven’t given you a resolution within eight weeks, or you’re unhappy with our decision to close your complaint, the Financial Ombudsman Service is at hand. You can find all their contact details on this page.

Our complaints data from 1^st October 2018 to 31^st March 2019 can be found here.

We test our app in every which way imaginable. We also monitor any security issues affecting specific devices to minimise any risk to your money.

In all we perform over 1300 tests on both the iOS (iPhone, iPad etc) and Android (Galaxy, Moto) operating systems for every new release.

We check that our apps works well for as many people as possible by monitoring the most popular devices using our app. We compare this with a list of the most popular devices in the UK as a whole to create a list of 20 phones and tablets on which we carry out extra checks for display quality.

Our top 20 is currently:

iPhone 7

iPhone 6s

iPhone 6

iPhone SE

iPhone X

iPhone 5s

iPhone 8

iPhone 7 Plus

iPad Air 2

iPad Air

Galaxy S8

Galaxy S7

iPhone 8 Plus

iPhone 6s Plus

Galaxy S7 Edge

iPad 5

iPad 4

Galaxy S6

iPhone 6 Plus

iPad mini

We try to support as many devices as possible, but as with many other apps, some older devices may be too outdated too.

You are likely to have issues with our app if your device can’t run either the most recent operating system (iOS 12 for iPhones and iPads, Oreo for Android) or the one before that (iOS 11 for iPhone/iPad, Nougat for Android).

To check which operating system your device uses:

• For Android: go to ‘Settings’ then ‘About Phone’. The operating system will be listed here.
• For iOS: got to ‘Settings’ then navigate to ‘General’ and then ‘About’. The operating system will be listed under ‘Version’.

There’s a chance it won’t work with our app. Our app doesn’t work on Windows at the moment, so this could be the issue. If you’re still unsure about device compatibility or are having issues, you can contact our Customer Support team 24/7 via email at customersupport@atombank.co.uk.

We’d love to, but there are many different types of mobiles and tablets with so many operating systems that we can’t test them all. We trial our app on the most popular mobiles and tablets so we can make sure you get the best banking experience possible.

Yep – just download the app on your other devices and tap ‘Add a Device’, use a unique passcode that we email you to get access, verify your identity and you're in.

This is on your account screen. Here’s how to get there:

1. Log in and you’ll be taken to your Hub, where you can see all your accounts.
2. Tap on the account you’re interested in.
3. From the individual account page, tap on the account circle.
4. Here you’ll see your account number and sort code.

We use biometric security which includes voice and face recognition to keep your account safe and secure. But we can’t do that unless we're allowed to access your camera and microphone.

This might have something to do with it’s format. To double-check the format is okay, go to the Royal Mail website and put in your postcode. The website will show your address correctly. Simply copy it when you log in.

A couple of things could. First, as we mentioned above, you need a compatible smartphone or tablet and you'll also need a minimum of 3G internet connection to use the app, unless you’re using WiFi.