Atom was founded in July 2013[4] by Anthony Thomson, co-founder of Metro Bank[5] and Mark Mullen, previous CEO at First Direct.

[8] The company launched to the public in April 2016, after its regulatory authorisation restrictions were lifted, initially to those who had expressed an interest previously and had been given a registration code.

[9] It launched more widely in October 2016 and today it offers mortgages and savings accounts, along with secured loans for small businesses.

[10] In 2017, Atom was named by LinkedIn as one of the top 25 startups impacting the UK and ranked 14th alongside companies such as Deliveroo, Uber and Airbnb,[11] and in 2019, Atom ranked second in business analyst Beauhurst's list of 50 top fintech UK startups and scale-ups.

Atom saw a 39% increase in customer borrowing to £4.1 billion and a 55% rise in residential mortgage balances, maintaining low business costs and raising £100 million from investors.