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Scottish cryptocurrency infrastructure firm Zumo has partnered with cloud-native core banking platform SaaScada to give UK banks and wealth management firms a faster route to offering regulated cryptocurrency services, as the country prepares to bring cryptoassets further within the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory framework in October 2027.
Announced on October 13, 2026, the Crypto-Banking Partnership combines Zumo’s digital asset infrastructure with SaaScada’s banking technology, allowing financial institutions to introduce cryptocurrency services without undertaking lengthy, expensive technology development projects.
Under the arrangement, Zumo will provide cryptocurrency custody, trading and compliance services, including Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. SaaScada will manage the cash accounts used to fund cryptocurrency purchases and receive proceeds when customers sell their digital assets.
The companies say their integrated infrastructure will allow banks and wealth managers to connect cash and cryptocurrency services within a unified client experience, while tracking transactions in real time alongside customers’ existing banking activities.
The announcement comes as UK regulators and financial institutions prepare for changes to the oversight of digital assets. For banks considering entry into the cryptocurrency market, the Crypto-Banking Partnership offers an alternative to building dedicated digital asset systems from the ground up.
The agreement reflects a shift in how traditional financial institutions are approaching digital assets, with the focus increasingly moving towards the practicalities of offering cryptocurrency services to clients.
Nick Jones, founder and chief executive of Zumo, said the UK’s approaching regulatory changes could encourage more institutional participation in the sector.
“The UK is bringing cryptoassets within the FCA’s regulatory remit, with a comprehensive regime set to take effect in October 2027,” Jones said.
He described the development as a significant change for the industry, arguing that clearer regulatory arrangements could help unlock demand from financial institutions and strengthen the UK’s position in digital assets.
Jones also said banks and wealth managers were increasingly concerned with the speed at which they could introduce digital asset services rather than whether they should offer them at all.
However, the partnership announcement does not establish how many institutions will adopt the service, when the first deployments will take place or how much the companies expect the arrangement to generate in revenue.
The two companies will divide responsibilities according to their respective areas of expertise.
Zumo will manage the digital asset side of the service, including custody and trading, alongside customer verification and anti-money laundering processes. SaaScada will operate the core banking infrastructure that handles the cash accounts associated with cryptocurrency transactions.
This division is intended to allow participating institutions to introduce digital asset capabilities without replacing their existing core banking systems.
The Crypto-Banking Partnership could help institutions reduce the operational complexity associated with connecting separate providers for cash management, cryptocurrency custody and trading.
Steve Round, co-founder and president of SaaScada, said the company’s strategy was to concentrate on core banking while working with specialist providers for other financial services.
“We do one thing, core banking, and we bring in specialists for everything around it,” Round said.
He added that Zumo had undertaken the regulatory and operational work needed to help UK institutions introduce digital asset services.
The companies have positioned the arrangement as a ready-built option rather than a requirement for banks to undertake a multi-year development programme. However, individual institutions would still need to assess the service against their own operational, security and regulatory obligations before launching products to customers.
The partnership arrives less than a year before the UK’s planned comprehensive cryptoasset regulatory regime is scheduled to take effect in October 2027.
The impending changes are increasing pressure on businesses operating in the digital asset sector to prepare for regulatory requirements and determine how their services will fit within the evolving framework.
For traditional financial institutions, regulatory readiness is likely to be an important consideration when selecting cryptocurrency technology providers. The Crypto-Banking Partnership seeks to address part of that challenge by combining digital asset infrastructure with established banking technology.
Nevertheless, integrating compliance tools does not automatically remove a financial institution’s own regulatory responsibilities. Banks and wealth managers will need to establish which obligations apply to their specific services and how their chosen providers support those requirements.
The announcement also follows comments from Val Smith of the Financial Conduct Authority, who urged crypto firms to prepare for the new regulatory regime and warned that investors would not have access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for their digital asset investments.
The FSCS warning highlights an important distinction for customers: the availability of cryptocurrency services through a bank or wealth manager does not, by itself, mean that digital asset holdings receive the same protections as eligible deposits or other covered financial products.
Institutions introducing cryptocurrency offerings will therefore need to consider not only the technology behind their services but also how they communicate risks and protections to customers.
As the regulatory deadline approaches, the Zumo-SaaScada agreement illustrates one route through which traditional financial institutions could expand into digital assets without building every component internally.
The Crypto-Banking Partnership gives banks and wealth managers access to an integrated combination of cryptocurrency infrastructure and core banking technology. Its longer-term significance will depend on institutional adoption, implementation costs, customer demand and the requirements of the UK’s incoming regulatory framework.
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