Ethical fintech Salad Money has today announced its partnership with open banking leader Yapily to provide NHS staff with fair and reasonable loan options.
Recent research conducted by Salad Money found that an overwhelming 80% of its NHS employee applicants are currently looking for ways to get out of their overdraft. Despite working tirelessly to care for the public throughout the pandemic, many are struggling to stay afloat due to high overdraft fees and a lack of affordable credit options.
The Yapily integration has enabled Salad Money to process over 2,000 applications in the space of two months, with the ability to process even more if required. Providing access to over £600,000 in affordable credit for NHS employees. It had previously been noted through analysing open banking data, that a number of NHS applicants were facing issues. Using the Money Mind tool gave a better understanding of what sort of financial assistance NHS workers needed the most and so the collaboration was made.
This then enabled leverage of Yapily’s open banking infrastructure so that the fintech could make credit decisions based solely on a person’s actual financial status, rather than outdated, incomplete or incorrect credit scoring data.
Salad Money has harnessed Yapily’s open banking API to create a better journey experience for borrowers. Since partnering with Yapily, Salad Money users have reported that the open banking powered platform is a quick, simple and hassle-free way to gain access to credit.
Tim Rooney, CEO of Salad Money said, “Prior to running the survey, we believed that our applicants fell into two credit categories: the underserved and overindebted. We were looking to find motivational topics that might resonate with our NHS applicants in those distinct groups. However, we saw that the overwhelming response was that NHS applicants require assistance in becoming less reliant on overdrafts and its high fees.”
Yapily’s API enables Salad Money to extract financial information directly from applicants’ bank accounts in order to create a true picture of their financial situation in real-time. This allows Salad Money to build and personalise loans to match their customers’ financial needs through accurately matching the classification of income and expenditure to its affordable lending criteria.
Salad Money believes that they are now breaking the monopoly that is credit reference agencies and has achieved their goal of opening up low-cost loans that are both appropriate and affordable. Offering more than 1,000 NHS employees the opportunity since beginning their partnership with Yapily in late April.
Rooney added, “With finances stretched like never before due to COVID-19, people simply cannot afford to be at the mercy of high overdraft charges or forced into taking unaffordable credit loans. Now more than ever, we need an accessible, mid-cost credit market that will serve those who are currently excluded from appropriate and fair loan options.
“Through harnessing Yapily’s technical expertise, we are able to continue taking on the flawed credit industry and deliver a completely new approach to lending. We believe that the principles of open banking should be adopted by all lenders to eradicate financial exclusion and open up low-cost loans for critical NHS workers.”
In terms of savings, the most prevalent charges facing NHS workers were overdraft fees. Salad Money helps that by showing customers small but achievable cutbacks in discretionary spending will help them to escape constantly relying on overdrafts and the high fees that come with them.
Stefano Vaccino, Founder and CEO of Yapily said, “We are proud to be supporting Salad Money in creating a future of financial equality. Our mission has always been to pave the way to a world of greater financial wellbeing and control for all, and with this partnership we are doing exactly that.
“The economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis has placed huge financial pressure on individuals and businesses. With the ability to build better products and services, while mitigating risks during these uncertain times, open banking cannot be underestimated. Helping businesses like Salad Money to match consumers’ personal financial needs will ensure everyone has access to fair and reasonable lending options. We look forward to strengthening our partnership and creating even greater access to financial freedom.”
