Metro Bank settles £24m software infringement case

Metro Bank has agreed to pay £24 million to resolve a long-running legal dispute with US software company Arkeyo, which accused the lender of leaking its proprietary coin-counting technology to a rival firm. The settlement brings to an end an eight-year legal battle that began when Arkeyo filed a civil suit in the US in 2017, alleging that Metro had shared its technology with competitor Saggezza.

At the centre of the dispute are Metro’s “magic money machines,” the coin-counting devices placed in branches and marketed as a fun tool for children to tally up small change. According to Arkeyo, it originally developed the underlying software for the machines more than a decade ago, only to later discover that Metro allegedly worked with Saggezza to replicate its technology.

Court filings suggested that in 2016, Metro Bank met with Saggezza representatives to discuss duplicating Arkeyo’s software so that Saggezza could replace Arkeyo as the bank’s technology provider. Arkeyo further alleged that Metro supplied Saggezza with a touchscreen computer containing the disputed software to aid the duplication process.

The legal wrangling spanned years and was set to culminate in a High Court hearing in the UK before the bank chose to settle. By paying £24 million, Metro Bank avoids a potentially damaging trial and further reputational fallout at a time when it is working to stabilise its business and rebuild investor confidence.

For Arkeyo, the settlement marks the conclusion of a lengthy fight to protect its intellectual property rights, underscoring the risks financial institutions face when dealing with third-party technology providers. The case highlights growing legal scrutiny over intellectual property in financial services, particularly as banks increasingly depend on specialist software partners to deliver customer-facing innovations.

Arkeyobanking technologyfintechintellectual propertylegal settlementMetro BankSaggezzasoftware infringement