9 December 2020

City of London Group plc

("COLG" or "the Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, "the Group")

Recognise Bank launches its website

Recognise Bank, the subsidiary of City of London Group plc (AIM: CIN), and new SME bank, has today launched its website, which can be found at www.recognisebank.co.uk.

Recognise is a relationship led, digitally enabled bank, focused on delivering banking services to the SME sector, which has often been overlooked by traditional banks.

Recognise's services are delivered through dedicated relationship managers who have a proven record in delivering banking services to SMEs across the UK through its London, Midlands and Manchester business hubs.

Existing customers will be able to access Recognise's cutting edge lending portal through the new website, which will enable them to view up to date transactional information on their loans.

The website also hosts the latest information on Recognise's products and contains insights on the SME sector from its experienced management team.

Recognise received its AwR (Authorisation with Restriction) in November 2020 and expects to begin offering personal savings and business savings products in Q1 and Q2 of 2021 respectively. It is one of the first banks to receive authorisation post Covid-19, and has already begun selective lending on an unregulated basis.

Jason Oakley CEO of Recognise Bank, commented: "This is an important and exciting milestone for Recognise, demonstrating our commitment to making banking easier and more accessible for SMEs across the UK.

"The website and our lending portal reinforce our differentiated banking proposition for SME customers, and in conjunction with our experienced relationship managers, enables Recognise to offer quality, personalised banking services to our customers.

"We are still early in the Recognise Bank journey, but we believe that our relationship-led approach, combined with the latest cloud-based technology, will allow SME's to focus on their business, and help Recognise meet its ambitious growth targets."

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About City of London Group

City of London Group (AIM: CIN) is a forward-thinking financial services organisation focused on serving the UK SME market. It is primed for the future, is grounded with traditional values and a strength and depth of expertise.

The Group's expertise covers finance for the business sector and secured lending such as for commercial property, working capital for SMEs, bridging loans and asset finance as well as lending to professional firms.

The Group ensures its services are always delivered with a personal touch, so clients know that they are more than a customer and have a partner that will work with them as they look towards the future.

About Recognise Bank Limited

Recognise Bank Limited was formed to provide financial services to the UK SME sector and the retail and business deposits market. Its purpose is to serve an SME market that has been starved of a personalised and relationship focused banking service for some time now.

Recognise has partnered with leading fintech platforms to create a market leading SME service using best in class technology that will enable it to deliver on its relationship banking model. Recognise has a strong independent Board to support an ambitious executive team that has had over 250 years' experience of building SME banking portfolios. By 2024 Recognise aims to have 44,000 depositors and 4,500 borrowers on its books. Recognise is a subsidiary of the City of London Group.