For Mr Mullen, the four-day week has helped set Atom apart from its larger rivals, many of which are now slashing costs or trying desperately to encourage workers back to the office. Lloyds and Barclays have both told staff to come in more regularly.
“I think there’s a bit of cultural presenteeism in place,” Mr Mullen, 56, said. “This idea where ‘I don’t feel comfortable because my minions are not in place’. Oh come on, grow up.”
His conviction comes amid growing calls for a four-day working week across other sectors, with even civil servants now demanding shorter hours with no change to their salary.
This has fuelled the debate over whether employees should be in the office from Monday to Friday.
Mr Mullen said: “I’ve never stood up in front of everyone and said ‘this is the future’. But this is something that works for our company.
“It doesn’t work if you’re an ice cream seller and it doesn’t work if you don’t want it to. And that’s fine to say you don’t want to do it, but on what data? We’d like to think we’re a data-centric company. Don’t be a slave to it, but don’t ignore it.
“We provide a service seven days a week. We have to manage shift patterns and availability to make sure we’re there for customers. We won’t just bugger off on a Monday or Friday.”
Mr Mullen, who formerly ran HSBC-owned bank First Direct, said a focus on technology has allowed his bank to provide a consistent service seven-days a week while still maintaining a four-day work week.
“My objective is to employ as few people as possible. I am not in the job creation market. I am interested in keeping the number of employees as low as I possibly can.”
Atom employs a little over 540 people, compared to around 1,800 at rival Monzo.
Mr Mullen said: “I can do that by investing in technology and self-service for customers.”
Customers are discouraged from bombarding staff with time-consuming complaints.
“We do not encourage customers to get in contact with us,” Mr Mullen said. “That demonstrates that they haven’t understood something, which is entirely the wrong outcome as far as we’re concerned.”
Instead, Atom focuses on providing as many answers as possible online or through automated chatbots.
That may work for the business, but what about customers? There has been growing frustration with the rise of chatbot customer service across Britain.
