Departments and Teams | Castle Trust

Savings Operations

Through our Call Centre and Administration teams, we support our savings customers with a focus on top-tier customer service, instilling confidence in our savings customers that we are the bank to do business with. We ensure customers have all the information they need first time, helping resolve their issues and problem solve, identifying improved ways to enhance the service we provide and ensuring we go the extra mile.

Property Operations

The Property Operations team at Castle Trust Bank supports mortgage customers throughout their journey. The team is divided into two main areas: the Lending team handles new applications, underwriting decisions, and completion processes, while the Servicing team manages customer care, issuing documentation, annual statements, and repayment requirements. Additionally, the Arrears and Collections team is responsible for resolving issues, deciding on formal actions if needed, and recovering loans.

Omni Operations

The Omni operations team at Castle Trust Bank support customers and retailers throughout the loan journey. The teams handle aspects such as underwriting loan applications, providing customer service support, assisting with collections in case of financial difficulties, supporting our retailer partners, and managing administrative tasks like direct debit processes and regulatory documentation. Each team plays a unique role in ensuring that customers and retail partners receive excellent customer service and support.

Central Operations

Central Operations consists of a group of teams that support all three of our business lines in specific areas of the customer experience. It is the centre of excellence for specialist operational roles such as Quality Assurance, which help set the standards of customer interactions, ensuring that we adhere to regulatory obligations as well as finding continuous improvement opportunities with a consumer duty lens. Our Payments Operations team allocates funds to customer accounts, arranging mortgage completions, as reconciling our bank accounts. The Complaints team provide an independent review and decisioning of complaints and claims received into the business, reviewing all aspects of the customer journey, ensuring that our customers have received the service they should expect. Here we identify areas for improvement, and we support the business area by ensuring we all understand what good outcomes should look like for our customers.

Finance, Treasury & Regulatory Reporting

The Finance function is crucial for providing accurate financial data to management for informed decision-making. The department is responsible for managing capital, liquidity, procuring vendors, tracking funds, and analysing business trends. It is structured into teams covering financial control, statutory accounting, finance projects, corporate development, regulatory reporting, and treasury functions.

Technology

As a FinTech Bank, we’re on a mission to disrupt banking with technology as a key enabler. Our IT & Infrastructure team ensures smooth and secure operations, while the Product & Change team manages business transformation projects. The Data & Analytics team provides insights for decision-making, the Information Security team safeguards data from cyber threats, and the Procurement team provide professional procurement expertise and adherence to our supplier management framework.

Risk, Compliance & Internal Audit

The Risk department is a pivotal element of our operations, embodying our commitment to safeguarding the bank's future and ensuring the right outcome for our customers. Our team is dedicated to identifying, evaluating, and mitigating risks across all areas of the business, including credit, financial, climate, model, operational, and compliance risks. The goal is to maintain a stable and secure financial environment, enabling the bank to achieve its strategic objectives while adhering to regulatory standards and best practices.

The Compliance function is crucial for upholding regulatory standards and ensuring good customer outcomes. It consists of various specialisms including monitoring operations to ensure compliance, providing advisory support to navigating complex regulations of developing compliance strategies, combating financial crime such as money laundering and fraud, and mitigating operational risks that could impact the bank's objectives. These efforts are essential in safeguarding the organisation and maintaining the trust of customers and regulators.

Internal Audit plays a crucial role in helping protect the bank’s assets, reputation and sustainability by assessing whether all the risks faced by Castle Trust Bank are understood and effectively managed. This includes risk management assessments, and evaluating internal controls, such as the management checks on the completeness and accuracy of data or credit worthiness checks. By fulfilling these responsibilities, the internal audit function helps the bank achieve its objectives, safeguard its assets, and maintain the trust of regulators, shareholders, and customers.

HR, Legal & Marketing

The purpose of Human Resources (HR) is to manage the bank's most valuable asset - its colleagues. HR is responsible for various functions related to the recruitment, training, development, and engagement of our colleagues. Overall, HR plays a crucial role in ensuring that the bank has a skilled and motivated workforce that contributes to the success of the bank.

The Legal team are at the centre of everything that happens at Castle Trust Bank. The lawyers deal with matters ranging from new products, customer and retailer documentation templates, reviewing 3rd party contracts, and litigation, to supporting strategic bank activity. Legal Operations concentrates on Company Secretarial activity, plus review cycles for the banks’ policies, committee terms of references and maintaining our connection with the FCA in respect of SMCR.

Marketing is responsible for the public face of the bank – our branding, advertising, promotion, and reputation is driven through our marketing activities. We provide multiple levels of support to help the business achieve its targets including promotional materials, campaigns, digital assets, our website, marketing emails, and liaison with trade press and websites.

Sales

The Property Sales team is responsible for supporting our mortgage brokers. The team is structured with an internal sales support team, who discuss new applications with brokers, supporting them through the loan application process. Our Business Development team are out in the field visiting our broker partners, generating new quality loan applications. They also oversee the application process with their high-quality knowledge of our lending criteria, ensuring that the broker thinks of Castle Trust Bank every time they have a new application.

The Omni Commercial team is split into three areas – New Business, Account Management and Commercial Analytics, and is responsible for hitting sales targets across our existing retailer base and through new business. Our focus is on pricing and contracting strategies to maximise returns for the Omni business. Customer outcomes are central to everything that we do, and we only work with retailers who share our culture and values. It is our responsibility to be aware of emerging retailer risks.

Our departments & teams