Metro Bank has partnered with business school, Cranfield School of Management, to launch an MSc in Retail and Digital Banking, which also provides the Chartered Banker Diploma on completion.
Delivered initially to the bank’s colleagues, the university will offer the degree as part of its wider educational portfolio from next year.
Launching this month, over 30 colleagues from across the bank, including the Digital, Products and Finance teams, will become the first cohort to undertake the two-year part-time degree. Covering retail and digital banking, product management, financial markets and industry disruption, the course will provide students with training in concepts and theories, as well as their in-business application.
The degree is the bank’s second bespoke programme and the first Master’s-level apprenticeship funded from the Apprenticeship Levy. As a certified employer provider, Metro Bank can deliver its own accredited apprenticeship training, and this year has already recruited around 70 entry-level apprentices onto its Cashier programme.
Danny Harmer, Chief People Officer at Metro Bank commented: “Investing in our colleagues and enabling them to be the very best they can be, is absolutely central to how we operate. At Metro Bank, we’re in a highly enviable position; redefining and disrupting retail banking. By partnering with a renowned organisation such as Cranfield School of Management, we’re able to combine our experience and expertise, to provide students with the knowledge and confidence they need to shake up banking.”
Professor Catarina Figueira at Cranfield School of Management added: “This is the first master’s-level apprenticeship in the UK aimed specifically at senior banking professionals. Accredited by the Chartered Banker Institute, this programme combines the best of academic insight and industry application so that learners can achieve and maintain standards of excellence, professionalism and ethical conduct by applying their knowledge and testing their skills in the workplace, almost immediately.
“It’s a very exciting initiative, which has provided Cranfield with the opportunity to collaborate with Metro Bank, a thriving financial institution which clearly understands what the market demands and is growing at a fast pace.”
The bank plans to launch additional apprenticeships for its colleagues in Operations and Commercial & Relationship Management. It has a multi-site training facility, Metro Bank University, which offers colleagues hundreds of e-learning and classroom based courses to choose from, to support them in their daily roles and achieve their career aspirations.
