UK Fintech News Roundup: The Latest Stories 01/02

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Every Wednesday, we delve into the latest fintech updates from across the UK. This week brings updates from TrueLayer, Cashflows, Frasers Group, Starling Bank and more.

TrueLayer launches onboarding product

onboardingOpen banking platform TrueLayer for the UK and Europe, has launched an automated onboarding product, Signup+, using open banking APIs.

Signup+ aims to solve inefficient account signup and registration processes. TrueLayer believes such processes cause issues for many businesses with required verification for onboarding new customers; which can also cause high drop-off rates.

Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder at TrueLayer, commented on the launch. Simoneschi said: “In financial services and beyond, clunky and inefficient signup processes lead to as much as 40 per cent of potential revenues being lost.”

“Using open banking technology in conjunction with real-time identity data, Signup+ automates the onboarding process in a way which hasn’t been possible before in the UK. Signup+ represents a new generation of use cases for open banking. It brings onboarding to the forefront of the conversation about where open banking is headed in the future.”

Cashflows partners with UK commercial bank

calculator UK fintech newsShawbrook Bank has selected payment solution provider, Cashflows, to process its business finance payments.

From February, Cashflows will process Shawbrook’s e-commerce business finance collections. It hopes to enhance Shawbrook Bank’s customer experience through its virtual terminal for over-the-phone payments.

Hannah Fitzsimons, CEO of Cashflows, commented on the news. She said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Shawbrook to deliver a great experience for their customers. Shawbrook believes in providing personal and practical financial products, and we couldn’t agree more.

“The e-commerce payments landscape continues to rapidly grow and in today’s competitive landscape, what sets businesses aside when it comes to payments is personalisation and understanding. We’re proud to be able to support Shawbrook to offer its customers a payment experience aligned to its principles.”

Frasers Group aims to launch BNPL option

House of Fraser UK fintech news

UK retail, sport and intellectual property group, Frasers Group, is set to launch new financial services this year. The group plans to enable customers to borrow up to £2,000 and let shoppers buy products on credit.

Under ‘Frasers Plus’, customers will be able to defer payments or take a loan through Frasers Group’s app. The BNPL offer also plans to apply to its range of retailers including Sports Direct, House of Fraser, Jack Wills and more.

Todd Latham, CEO of retail finance platform Divido, commented on the news. He said: “The announcement from Frasers Group is a clear reflection of the shift in purchasing habits and retailers need to constantly adapt to adhere to these needs. As many more consumers rely on checkout finance, building a retail finance solution is a plausible next step to better manage brand reputation and convert more clicks to purchases.”

Jeremy Hunt discusses plans to boost UK position

Jeremy Hunt on Edinburgh ReformsChancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt outlined plans to boost the UK government and make the country the “world’s next Silicon Valley” in a speech given on Friday 27 January.

Hunt also described UK challenger banks Monzo and Revolut as “shining examples from our world-beating fintech sector”. Monzo recently saw record revenue growth in 2022. The growth puts the challenger on target to achieve annual profitability by the end of 2023.

Hunt also suggested that his new budget on 15 March would not contain big tax cuts. Instead, he emphasised the need to prioritise reducing inflation.

Starling Bank celebrates trio of achievements

Starling bank virtual cards UK fintech newsStarling Bank saw it officially become the digital bank with the highest net switching gains in the UK. It saw 9,070 net switches for the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022.

Starling was also named Britain’s best current account in Finder’s ‘Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023‘. The digital bank also debuted on the UK Customer Service Index, taking sixth place. The achievement means Starling joins the likes of John Lewis, M&S and Tesco Mobile in the UK’s top ten performing brands regarding customer service.

Helen Bierton, chief banking officer at Starling Bank, also explained why she believes the challenger is popular. She said: “People switch to Starling for our easy-to-use app and award-winning customer service. We want to help improve our customers’ money management skills for the long term, rather than give them one-off financial incentives to switch.

“The fact that Starling is the only bank to have consistently topped the leaderboard throughout 2022 so far, and is also the only bank in the top three not to offer switching incentives, is a testament to our mission.”

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