Strategy
Our strategy is deliberately short: run a bank that a person can understand, keep the cost of running it low enough to pass the saving on, and stay profitable enough to be there in ten years.
Simple by design
Every product we launch has to be explainable in a single screen. If a feature needs a paragraph of conditions to be understood, it is either simplified or dropped, because an unexplained product is a product that will disappoint someone.
Cost discipline over branch networks
We do not pay for prime high-street property, and the money that is not spent on it goes into the rate on savings, the fees on current accounts and the staff who answer the phone.
Growth in the currencies customers actually use
Pounds remain the core, with dollar and rand balances serving customers paid in one currency and spending in another. Each currency is run on its own books rather than as a conversion layer.
Measured on retention, not on acquisition
The headline number we report internally is how many customers are still with us after three years, because a bank that keeps people has to keep them satisfied rather than merely signed up.
Progress against these commitments is reported to shareholders and to customers in the same document.