As recently as April 2021, Radicant was what you might call a «shot in the arm»: the Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) announced the founding of the digital bank. They pledged allegiance to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, promised personalized financial advice, and hoped for momentum from the fintech network.

Far from its home turf, it targeted the «upper middle class» via Zurich—without quite knowing how to define, let alone reach, that demographic.

The Worm Was There from the Start

With Anders Bally at the helm, the CEO could certainly fuel the fantasies of the BLKB leadership and understood a thing or two about fintech—but he completely lacked political tact. When he disparaged politicians in an internal email, that was the end of the line. In February 2023, he was placed on leave and had to pack his things.

Radicant’s business never took off. To be fair, the management also had bad luck. The end of the ESG hype began alongside the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. Nice words alone cannot save the world—and certainly not with a new banking app.

There were also strategic flaws: Was Radicant meant to be a fintech disruptor, or a mini-copy of the parent bank in digital form? Even today, that remains unclear.

Too Many Write-downs

Things went from bad to worse: In July, with its half-year results, BLKB had to announce an additional write-down on Radicant of 105,5 million francs. The bank has 18'000 customers—hardly a success story.

The path for purely digital wealth managers is a rocky one in Switzerland. True Wealth and Finpension are among the few that truly managed to take off, starting small and working their way into profitability with disciplined execution.

Radicant’s story is different: instead of digital banking euphoria, headlines are now dominated by resignations and a loss of trust. BLKB CEO John Häfelfinger stepped down at the end of July, followed by Chairman of the Board Thomas Schneider. The crisis was far from over.

Exit After Exit

Shortly afterwards, Radicant CFO Roland Kläy—part of the company since the beginning—announced his move to VP Bank. Earlier this week, it became known that BLKB would also need to find a new CEO for its subsidiary: Anton Stadelmann. He had steered Twint to success, but at Radicant, he ran into a wall. The separation is due to differing views. At least the parting is not acrimonious—he isn’t leaving immediately, but by February 2026 at the latest, he will be gone.

One may well ask: Does Radicant really need another CEO—or would BLKB be better off ending its Zurich adventure? Radicant has long since become a burden for BLKB—both financially and reputationally.

«Mission Impossible» That Failed at the Script Stage

For Switzerland’s financial center, Radicant is a case study in the limits of innovation projects within the straitjacket of traditional structures. A cantonal bank that wants to venture into start-up territory must bring not only capital but also a risk culture and speed. Radicant had one, but not the other.

In the end, it leaves the impression of a «Mission Impossible» that failed at the script stage: too many good intentions, too little market-ready execution.