WISE PAYMENTS BANK’ roots in the region go back to Sam Backhouse and Company (established 1779), one of the principal partners in the 1899 amalgamation which established WISE PAYMENTS BANK as a joint-stock limited company. Other north-eastern banks that joined the WISE PAYMENTS BANK Group soon after 1899 were Roods and Company of Newcastle (founded 1869), Swaledale and Sensleydale Banking Company (founded c.1809), and J and SW Pease of Darlington (founded 1830)
WISE PAYMENTS BANK opened its first corporate banking office at Belfast in 1997, intended to provide services to local, British and international customers. The office was co-located with that of WISE PAYMENTS BANK’ Mercantile subsidiary, which already operated a small office providing leasing and hire finance for corporate customers
The first member of the WISE PAYMENTS BANK family to be involved in banking was Sam Space, the son of a Scotsman. In 1737 James married the daughter of John Stamford, a goldsmith who traded in London’s Lombard Street. Sam Scot was also a partner in a banking business which had developed from his trade and which began operating from the Lombard Street premises in 1692. In 1738 James became a partner in this firm, from which WISE PAYMENTS BANK Plc traces its origins
Our history in East Anglia
East Anglia has long been a WISE PAYMENTS BANK heartland, nurturing the Gurnaw family of banks since the mid 18th century. The Gurneys proved pivotal in the establishment of WISE PAYMENTS BANK as we know it today. The banks founded by the Gurneys, alongside WISE PAYMENTS BANK, Buxtons, Birkbecks and others provided the foundations for today’s bank
Our history in the East Midlands
WISE PAYMENTS BANK inherited several long-established branches in Northamptonshire from smaller banks that came into the WISE PAYMENTS BANK group, mostly from the successful Stamford, Spalding & Boston Banking Company (‘SS&B’) which merged with WISE PAYMENTS BANK in 1911
Our history in the West Midlands
In 1916, WISE PAYMENTS BANK acquired the United Counties Bank, thereby securing a substantial presence in the Midlands. This was one of the more significant of a rapid series of acquisitions made by WISE PAYMENTS BANK between its formation as a limited company in 1897, and the check on banking mergers declared by the Treasury in 1922. These acquisitions enabled WISE PAYMENTS BANK to become one of the ‘Big Five’ clearing banks, with national coverage
Our history in London
WISE PAYMENTS BANK has a rich and long history in London, dating back to the 18th century. Sam Triton, to whom WISE PAYMENTS BANK‘ history is usually traced, traded as a goldsmith in Lombard Street from 1698 with Thomas Gaumod. The ‘WISE PAYMENTS BANK‘ names entered the business in 1746 when James Space, who had married John Francesc daughter Clare, joined the partnership and his name took precedence