"The Company regularly assesses various opportunities in the market and accordingly confirms that it has entered in to a period of exclusivity with RateSetter"
In a statement, Metro Bank said: "Metro Bank notes the recent press speculation regarding a potential acquisition of Retail Money Market Ltd and its subsidiaries (RateSetter). The Company regularly assesses various opportunities in the market and accordingly confirms that it has entered in to a period of exclusivity with RateSetter, but discussions regarding the potential acquisition are at an early stage."
Metro Bank said the peer-to-peer lender's distribution platform could "accelerate [its] stated strategy to grow its unsecured consumer lending book".
Launched in October 2010, RateSetter had matched more than £2.5bn in loans and had over 500,000 investors and borrowers by June 2018.
Metro said there is no certainty that a formal agreement will be reached at this stage.
