LHV Bank has been formally granted consumer credit permission by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), following a six-month application process.

The approval will enable LHV Bank to expand its retail product offering, including plans to launch competitive overdraft facilities for current account customers in 2026.

LHV Bank said the permission represents a “significant regulatory milestone” and reflects a high degree of regulatory confidence in its governance, risk management, capital resilience and control environment.

As part of the PRA’s assessment, LHV Bank was subject to scrutiny of its end-to-end credit frameworks, financial crime controls, operational resilience, capital adequacy and board-level oversight.

The decision to grant permission reflects the regulator’s view that LHV Bank has the systems, controls and governance required to offer consumer credit responsibly within the UK banking system.

“Receiving consumer credit permission from the PRA is a strong endorsement of the robustness of our risk management and governance frameworks,” LHV Bank CEO, Erki Kilu, said. “These permissions are only granted where regulators have confidence that a bank can manage credit safely, at scale and over the long term.

“This outcome reflects substantial investment in our control environment, our people and our culture. It allows us to broaden our UK retail proposition while remaining firmly focused on prudent growth and responsible lending.”

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