With the UK tech industry raising 7 times more investment from 2020 to 2021, it is evident that the industry is continuing to thrive despite the impact of the pandemic. Within the UK, alongside London the North of England has become the perfect hot spot for technology startups and scaleups to be located, especially within FinTech.
With the current housing, energy and cost-of-living crises, consumers are forced to take control over their finances and want to learn how to save more. However, there is more to managing and saving than just having a bank account.
Fintech companies have taken advantage of this trend of technological innovation through many companies focusing on solely money management and saving.
We look at five companies that have set trends with their business by being innovative and connecting with the consumer’s needs.
Plum was founded in 2016 in London. Plum was created to be a personal savings assistant. Their slogan ‘Make your money go further’ is ingenious because it connects with what people are looking for. They have raised over £34.5M in funding to support their mission.
Their business is an app customers can download that will connect with their bank and through doing that, the customer can monitor their daily spending and automatically set money aside for the user not to use, but to save. The idea of automatically setting money aside automatically takes the process away from the consumer. A question people might have is, ‘how will they know how much to set aside?’. Well, Plum uses technology that will analyze the income, expenses, and spending patterns of the user to calculate how much that individual can afford.
goHenry was founded in 2012 with the mission of making every kid smart with money. They’ve raised over £46M in funding to fulfil their goal of helping kids learn about money in a realistic but enjoyable way.
1 in 5 teens are reported to lack the foundation for financial knowledge, creating a challenge for the young generation to manage their money properly, so goHenry offers the solution through their platform. goHenry is a fintech company that provides a debit card for children aged 6-18 with access to both mobile and website applications. They offer kids a hands-on experience of managing their money within a safe environment. The safe environment is that the parents have parental controls through their ability to set rules and limits and can also allocate tasks.
This platform is the perfect way to start learning about how to save and spend money early on, with rules and limits set in place so when it does come time for them to handle their own finances, they have the knowledge and experience to support them.
Zuto is a fintech company that helps people finance their car in a simple and easy way. Zuto has raised £19M in funding since it was founded in 2006. The web-based fintech company provides users with individual support to help them make better decisions when saving for and buying a car. Zuto does this by offering a range of finance options that help people – especially first-time buyers – to make the best financial choice.
A lot of people struggle with finding the best deal and figuring out a way to save and finance their own car. Zuto takes all this struggle out by making it easy, simple, and affordable.
Coconut is a slightly different type of fintech, but equally as innovative. In 2016, Coconut started with a vision to build the ultimate accounting and tax tool for freelancers. Since COVID, a lot of people have started to work from home. The idea of freelancing has become increasingly more popular as well.
The fintech platform helps freelancers with a variety of different services: from understanding money, tracking income, sending invoices, categorising expenses, and working out how much tax the customer owes. Coconut helps freelancers manage their income and expenses in a simple and efficient way all in one app.
Cleo was created in 2016 and is a financial assistant targeted towards Gen-Z. The company has raised over £38M in funds to help them achieve their goal to fight for the world’s financial health. Cleo goes by the slogan ‘A money app that doesn’t suck’.
Cleo has so many features but the ones that truly stand out for a customer is the ability to loop all their banks into the app instantly. By doing this, the customer can get monthly spending breakdowns, see three months of transactions, and have Cleo understand their financial situation and set aside money for saving. In the fintech sector, Cleo truly stands out by offering customers a solution to the struggle of managing money.
If you are a fintech company in need of help with your PR, social media, or digital marketing strategy, please contact us today to speak with experts and let us help you reach your business goals.
