One in four adults in the UK are currently in financial trouble or approaching it. To take action against allowing this to happen, fintechs from across the UK have signed up to a pledge to help address this.
Founded by Zopa Bank and ClearScore, the 2025 Fintech Pledge was launched in September to help tackle the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. The pledge aims to drive 10 million consumer actions by 2025 that build up the financial resilience of UK consumers. It is achieving this by connecting people to platforms that make savings work harder, improve credit scores, consolidate debt, and lower utility bills and household outgoing costs.
“The financial technology industry has been built on the principle of driving positive change for customers”
Members agree to clearly define, measure and quantify actions that contribute to the campaign goal of 10 million actions on a monthly basis. To date, more than one million actions have been reported from all members combined, with 530,000 already publicly displayed on the 2025 Fintech Pledge website.
Alongside reporting members, the pledge has opened three new membership categories as it prepares for further growth in 2023:
- Registered charities with subject-matter expertise provide knowledge and insight on financial resilience;
- Industry enablers facilitate introductions to their ecosystems and accelerate pledge adoption;
- External supporters & allies with product offerings adjacent to, but separate from, those of the pledge raise brand awareness beyond its core ecosystem and link it to other relevant industry discussions.
Bristol fintechs Loqbox, Penny and Hargreaves Lansdown have all joined the Pledge in recent months.
David Henderson, Head of Pensions at Penny, the company helping to track down millions in lost pensions, tells us, “The financial technology industry has been built on the principle of driving positive change for customers and Penny is happy to support the Pledge. The Bristol and Bath Tech cluster has always been associated with doing good for individuals and society and we are happy to play our part.
“At an average of one action per person, 10 million actions represent 20% of the UK adult population taking a positive step towards better managing a financial shock.”
Co-founder and Co-CEO of Loqbox, Gregor Mowat adds, “The fintech sector was developed and continues to grow thanks to the businesses within it wanting to help create positive change for consumers. Loqbox’s mission is to help everyone access a richer life in order to enjoy a happier and healthier relationship with money – this is even more relevant with the current financial crisis and we are proud to be a signatory of Pledge2025 to help drive the 10 million consumer actions over the next few years”.
Last month South West fintechs joined forces with FinTech West and University of Bristol for a ‘Good of Society – Knowledge Exchange Workshop’. The session explored how partnerships could be built and funded between social science academics and industry to explore potential opportunities for impact, knowledge exchange, enterprise and innovation. Seedcorn funding opportunities are available for knowledge based interactions between higher education providers and the wider world, which results in benefits to the economy and society. For more information, reach out to FinTech West who will be happy to chat with you.
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