Each week, The Fintech Times takes a look at the top stories in British fintech. In today’s roundup, Wealthify has revealed a confidence gap in British investors, 50% of UK customers are finding digital banking experiences lacking, and Gen-z still lean towards traditional banking options.
Curve launches new in-app rewards offer with Cardlytics
Curve and Cardlytics announce a new partnership to launch Curve Rewards, a new programme available for customers in-app. The partnership will connect Curve’s 1million+ UK customers with Cardlytics’ growing roster of over 100 recognised high street brands, including Pret a Manger, JustEat, FatFace, Harvey Nichols and Cult Beauty, offering an extensive range of rewards of up to 20% cashback.
Nathalie Oestmann, Chief Operating Officer, Curve: “We’re delighted to be working with Cardlytics to refresh Curve’s Rewards programme and deliver more value to our customers. Whether you are looking forward to hitting the high street again or prefer to order online, or a mixture of both, Curve Rewards programme will help you earn while you shop, with discounts on a huge range of some of the UK’s best-loved online and high street brands.”
3 out of 4 Brits “not confident enough” to invest their money
New research published by online investment service Wealthify has exposed a confidence gap among UK savers, with 3 in 4 (72%) saying they are “not confident enough” to try investing their money. Only 1 in 6 (16%) people with £5,000 or more already in savings but no investments had considered investing in the past twelve months, despite 58% having saved more since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than 1 in 3 (38%) said they do not understand how investing works and 22% find the language too confusing. 4 in 10 (43%) of those who are not confident enough to invest said they are, however, happy with how their cash savings perform. With interest rates at a historic low, this could mean millions of people are missing out on opportunities to build their future wealth, by not engaging with other options.
Andy Russell, CEO, Wealthify said: “It’s frustrating that the complicated way investing is often still explained, and the perceptions of what an investor ‘should’ look like, are stopping so many savers exploring their options. At Wealthify, we aim to inspire anyone, regardless of their background or experience, to build their wealth and the future they want. It’s why we invite people to invest from as little as £1, and why we stripped away the complexity and jargon from day one. We want to make investing easy to understand, accessible to all, and provide options that allow people to invest their money in a way that suits them.”
Hampshire Trust Bank becomes the latest bank set to implement DPR’s Savings Solution
UK banking software provider, DPR, has secured Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) as the latest lender set to adopt its Savings solution for Origination and Servicing.
The new partnership will see HTB replace its existing legacy savings platform with DPR’s Savings Solution, which covers all the modern needs for financial institutions to serve corporate and retail savings customers. The cloud-hosted solution boasts a breadth of features including digital journeys (multi-channel access via desktop and mobile devices), back-office automation and extensive integrations.
Stuart Hulme, Savings Director at Hampshire Trust Bank commented: “HTB is on an impressive growth trajectory as we strive to become the go-to bank in our chosen markets. The deployment of the best in digital and customer solutions are at the heart of our ambitious expansion plans and play a key role in the continued enhancement of our proposition. Our partnership with DPR will ensure we can meet our ambitious plans by enabling us to serve customers better and by upgrading our operational capability “.
Over 50 per cent of UK customers find banking digital experiences lacking
Over 50% of customers in the UK find their bank’s digital experience lacking, according to new research from digital transformation agency Equator. The agency polled 1,000 UK consumers to discover how banks are being perceived in the post-digital world.
In every age group, over half of those surveyed found it to be a frustrating experience. Young demographics were the most dissatisfied, with 78% of Gen Y and 83% of Gen Z finding their bank’s digital experience lacklustre.
Gen X and Baby Boomers were not far behind either, with 69% and 57% respectively experiencing some form of frustration. This demonstrates that banks still have a long way to go to meet the needs of even their most long-term, historically loyal customers.
Garry Hamilton, Group Chief Growth Officer, Equator said: “Digital transformation cannot be led by an IT team alone – it is a cultural shift in an organisation, a new way of thinking and doing and it must start from the very top of the business. As our survey showed frustration with digital experiences in banking is widespread. Change therefore must be led with key objectives based on the customers’ benefits, not software features.
“Delivering a strong customer experience is a critical requirement for banks and building societies. There are many opportunities for them to make their own super apps, invest in better CX and offer greater personalisation and faster, more efficient processing. Although such changes may seem daunting, one thing is certain – doing nothing is not an option.”
Capalona launches its SME bank account comparison engine.
Wales-based Capalona has already helped thousands of SMEs secure finance and compare products to support business growth. Capalona says its new search engine allows customers to compare business bank account providers to find the best-fit bank account for their business needs – ultimately helping them keep on top of their company’s finances.
Capalona works with an extensive range of business bank account providers in the UK, including Cashplus, CardOneMoney, Tide, Revolut, and ANNA, and the comparison search engine is straightforward for SMEs to use. All bank account offers are updated regularly to ensure they’re presenting the best deals on the market, and customers can view all offers side by side and click to expand details for each provider. Provider details include specific eligibility criteria, benefits and features, who the product is best for, and other important information.
Simon Moorcroft, CTO of Sorodo Limited comments that it’s an exciting time for the Capalona brand to branch out into new products and services: “We wanted to offer more services to our customers to help support them through their entire business journey. From financing to bank account comparison – our next release will analyse bank transactions via Open Banking to filter results based on actual account usage. We’re always developing new and helpful comparison tools for business owners.”
9 out of 10 of Gen Z use traditional banking options, but many have their eye on Big Tech
Marqeta, the global modern card issuing platform, today released a report highlighting the unique financial needs and concerns of those aged 12–23 in the UK, known as Generation Z or ‘Zoomers’ (in a nod to the ‘Boomers’ generation). The report, Generation Z: Their payments are our future indicated that, despite being highly tech-aware and ‘digitally savvy’, Gen Z still lean heavily toward traditional financial services options. Almost 9 out of 10 (87%) Zoomers say they currently bank with traditional providers, such as HSBC and NatWest. However, many are also interested in the prospect of banking with Big Tech, hinting at a future where Big Tech and financial services will become synonymous.
“Gen Z’s interest in banking with the likes of PayPal, Apple, Amazon, and Google suggests that to stand a chance, the financial sector must become more like the tech industry over the coming years,” explains Niels Pedersen, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of Financial Technology: Case Studies in Fintech Innovation. “However, digital-first does not mean digital-only. A healthy balance between traditional and digital services must be struck for this generation – as the research shows. It’s vital for providers to build features and services that reflect these unique preferences and demands, particularly as 70%.”
