By David Firth, Product Director at Moneyhub
TL;DR: 29 million UK adults are “coasting” in low-interest accounts, costing them £20bn a year. Host David Firth shares his learnings from our recent webinar with Paragon Bank and how their Spring Savings app has enabled them to activate these customers, driving significant deposit growth and increased loyalty through intelligent simplicity.
It is a startling statistic: over 29 million UK adults currently hold an estimated £520 billion in accounts that pay little to no interest. For the individuals behind those numbers, it represents a collective loss of roughly £20 billion in potential interest every single year.
I recently had the pleasure of hosting a webinar with Guy Simmonds, Head of Digital Proposition, and John Kennedy, Digital Product Owner from Paragon Bank. We sat down to discuss how their Spring Savings app is using technology to bridge this gap. Since launching just 10 months ago, Spring has already attracted over 30,000 customers and reached over £800 million in deposits.
Here are my three key takeaways from our conversation.
1. Disrupting the ‘current account coaster’
During the session, Guy described a phenomenon Paragon calls ‘current account coasters’ – savers who leave large balances in their primary bank accounts. “The biggest barrier customers face is often self-imposed,” Guy noted. “They think it’s going to be hard work, too much effort, or not rewarding enough.”
In a digital-first world, I’ve always believed that first impressions are everything. If the user experience isn’t seamless, engagement peters out almost immediately. To combat this, Spring was built on the principle of ‘intelligent simplicity.’ By removing traditional friction points, such as manual data entry and long-winded onboarding, Paragon has turned what used to be a daunting task, including signing up, opening a new savings account and linking a current account, into a journey that most customers now complete in under ten minutes.
2. The power of a seamless experience
At Moneyhub, our partnership with Paragon was about moving Spring beyond being just a place to store money. We wanted to create a connected ecosystem where customers could view their external balances and move funds instantly.
John Kennedy noted that the success of the app lies in how natural the technology feels to the user. “Customers are getting the benefits of speed and security without needing to understand the underlying technology,” he explained. It’s about empowering customers to make more informed decisions on the spot, without added complexity and friction.
The results we’ve seen so far really do speak for themselves:
- Two-thirds of all deposits are made via Open Banking, bypassing the need for manual bank transfers.
- 50% of users choose to link their external current accounts, giving them the real-time context needed to make immediate saving decisions.
3. Digital confidence across the generations
One of the most interesting insights for me was the demographic data. You might assume a digital-first savings app is only for Gen Z, but the data suggests otherwise. While Spring has attracted a younger demographic than Paragon’s traditional base, they’ve seen a remarkable amount of engagement from savers over 80.
Guy noted that these users often start with a degree of healthy scepticism, but the simplicity of the tech wins them over. “They were attracted by the rate,” Guy said, “but they stayed because they found the experience so easy. They’re delighted when they find they can do it themselves without help.” It proves that when the journey is intuitive, you can build digital confidence across every generation.
What’s next
We’ve only scratched the surface of the strategic insights shared in the session. The team also hinted at what’s coming next, including automated payments sweeping and deeper Open Finance integrations designed to automate financial resilience and keep balances working as hard as possible.
Want the full story? This blog only covers the highlights. To see the demo of the app in action and hear our full Q&A session, you can watch the webinar recording here.
About David Firth
David Firth is a pensions and wealth expert with 17 years of experience in Product. He played an important role in PSD2 and the UK’s Open Banking initiative from its conception, helping heavily regulated firms to adopt cutting edge technologies in record-time. As Product Director, gifting this flexibility and freedom to financial institutions is what David enjoys most about his role. Outside of the workplace, David is an escape room veteran, with a 100% escape record from over 60 rooms.
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