Overstretched Britain: One in four have fallen into troubling financial behaviours

• A significant proportion of Brits have fallen into troubling financial behaviour in the past year as finances become increasingly stretched

• These include exceeding overdraft limits, missing credit card payments, and taking out loans to pay off other debts.

• Open Banking tools can support banks and financial services institutions identify vulnerability and offer support more quickly  

More than a quarter (27%) of the UK public has fallen into troubling patterns with their finances, with many having engaged in risky financial behaviour over the last year, according to new research from Moneyhub.

While the UK’s inflation rate has settled back down to the Bank of England’s 2% target, with Rachel Reeves announcing in her first speech as Chancellor Labour’s promise of immediate action to fix the economy and keep inflation as low as possible, over the last year the UK has seen the highest inflation for more than 40 years, putting pressure on people’s finances. This has led many to resort to riskier financial behaviours over the last year in order to get by. Financial risk involves individuals making decisions that might jeopardise their incomes or ability to pay a debt they've assumed.

According to Moneyhub’s research, 9% of people have exceeded their overdraft limit within the last year, and a further 8% have missed a credit card payment, and 7% have taken an additional loan out to pay off other debts.

Additionally, 5% have failed to pay their overdraft, 4% have defaulted on a loan and a further 4% have defaulted on a payday loan. 

With costs high, many are resorting to short-term credit to support their everyday spending. Close to half of Brits have applied for either a personal loan, credit card, pay day loan or overdraft in the last year, with 29% doing so as they required additional support for day to day finances due to the cost of living. A further 21% said they regularly use such products to meet day to day expenses.  

Of those people who have fallen into riskier financial behaviours, 6% felt that they shouldn’t have been approved for the product they received. With 27% of this group saying their income is not sufficient to afford the repayments. .

With many banks and financial services firms unable to see their customers’ full financial worlds, many of these concerning financial behaviours could be missed and grow. Open Banking tools enable banks and other firms to spot vulnerabilities much sooner, which allows for greater support to be provided to the customer before issues spiral. 

Suzanne Homewood, Managing Director of Decisioning at Moneyhub comments: “A worrying number of people have fallen into concerning financial behaviours, and while we cannot change the macro-economic environment that’s prompting them, there are steps the financial services industry can do to better support customers. 

“Indeed, many of these behaviours, like relying on short-term credit for everyday spending,  could be anticipated and mitigated against if service providers were able to understand their customer’s world better. 

“The ability to see this world through financial spending and behaviours, means that businesses can offer support and advice, before things spiral out of control, encouraging customers to make better financial decisions for themselves. Financial vulnerability can’t be easily eradicated, but it can be positively impacted by responsible actions like using data and technology that organisations like Moneyhub and the wider fintech community offer.”

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Contacts

Kirsten Ward
Marketing Director,  Moneyhub
kirsten.ward @moneyhub.com

Eleanor Ross
Senior Account Director, Teamspirit
(Moneyhub PR Agency)
ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com
M: +44 7393 758 446

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About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with our clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities. Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.

For more information, please visit moneyhub.com.

Significant fines imposed as Consumer Duty remains a work in progress

• 41% of customers still haven't noticed any changes to their treatment since Consumer Duty was introduced in July 2023

• But 42% believe that Consumer Duty will have a positive impact on the quality and range of products and services available 

• Data is key to identifying, mitigating and reporting on foreseeable harms and consumer outcomes

A year on from the introduction of the FCA’s Consumer Duty (CD) obligations for financial services firms, as many as two-fifths of customers have not noticed any changes to their treatment, according to research from engagement, data and customer journey platform Moneyhub. With the deadline fast approaching for financial services firms to apply the Consumer Duty to closed products, the research indicates that firms still have work to do to realise the business and consumer benefits of the Consumer Duty. 

The research, which polled 2,000 UK consumers, found that only a fifth (22%) said they have already noticed improvements in how they are treated as customers since Consumer Duty regulations came into effect. However, when asked about improvements to customer outcomes, 13% said firms have failed to deliver good quality support and after-sales care, while 12% said firms have failed to deliver communications that help them to make effective financial decisions. 10% felt firms failed to offer suitable products and services that meet their needs. 

Also laid bare by the research are the stark generational differences when it comes to noticing changes in financial services firms’ behaviours. As many as 40% of younger respondents thought they had noticed changes in how banks were interacting with them, compared to just 5% of over 55s.

Looking to the future, many customers remain hopeful that the Consumer Duty will have a significant impact on how firms interact with them. Over two-fifths (42%) believe that Consumer Duty will have a positive impact on the quality and range of products and services available - rising to 53% among younger respondents. 40% think that Consumer Duty will have a big impact on customer servicing - rising to 48% of younger respondents. Similarly, 36% think that Consumer Duty will drive banks to become more customer-centric institutions - more similar to building societies.

By 31st July 2024, FCA-regulated companies will have to review closed products and services against all aspects of the Duty. This in itself prompts a re-evaluation of products that current customers are on and whether they are still appropriate. 

The FCA has said repeatedly that firms must put data at the heart of their response to the Consumer Duty. Indeed the FCA’s recent multi-firm review into insurance outcomes further evidenced the importance of firms using new sources of data to design comprehensive measures that evaluate consumer outcomes as well as process outcomes, to proactively demonstrate that vulnerable customers receive outcomes that are the same as non-vulnerable customers, and that the monitoring of outcomes leads to proactive improvements. It’s vital that firms detail their data gaps and develop plans to enhance the data or their approach to monitoring.  

Dan Scholey, COO of Moneyhub comments: “Consumer Duty really should be a win for both businesses who want to work more efficiently and effectively as well as consumers who need more tailored solutions at affordable prices. The early feedback from firms that have embraced it is overwhelmingly positive. However with significant fines now being imposed by the FCA* we have both the stick and the carrot in place to see better outcomes delivered. 

“Firms often don't know where to start, but it is always with the data. The UK has made great strides through regulation to make the data available, and with it, firms can cost-effectively understand an individual's needs and provide the right solutions at the right time. Embracing the use of third-party Open Data solutions is the best way for firms to meet Consumer Duty requirements while seeing a tangible impact on their customers’ day-to-day finances, and satisfaction levels.”

-Ends-

Notes to editors

*https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-fines-hsbc-6-million-over-treatment-customers-financial-difficulty

Contacts

Ingrid Anusic                                      Eleanor Ross
Marketing Director,  Moneyhub           Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)
ingrid.anusic@moneyhub.com           ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com
M: +44 783 722 6553                  M: +44 7393 758 446

Research Methodology

Research conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Moneyhub amongst 2,000 UK consumers (nationally representative sample). 

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with our clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities. Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.

For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com.

Moneyhub appoints Anne de Kerckhove as chair of the board

Moneyhub, the market-leading data and payments platform is pleased to announce that Anne de Kerckhove will join the Company’s Board as Chair.

Anne is an experienced international executive with over 20 years leading some of the fastest-growing and scaling B2B and B2C technology, data, media, e-commerce and entertainment companies in Europe. She also has extensive Non-Executive Director experience of publicly quoted and private companies.

In addition Anne is an angel investor, mentor and Limited Partner in over 20 start-ups and entrepreneurial funds including CRE, Daphni, Andela, Flutterwave and Carlili. She is actively involved in promoting women, both on boards and within the technology industry, and is a speaker at business conferences and events. She is also a guest lecturer at INSEAD. Anne holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and an MBA from INSEAD. 

Anne worked as a banker in Canada and then a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in London before focusing her career on technology and innovation.

After a rigorous process, with over 250 applicants, Anne’s appointment brings additional strength to the Moneyhub board during a period of significant growth. It also means Moneyhub is incredibly privileged to have a female CEO, CFO and now Chair resulting in a board with a 60% female representation.  

Rael (the outgoing Chair) has made an invaluable contribution over the last 6 years supporting Moneyhub through its expansion to date, including 3 fundraising rounds. We are delighted that Rael will continue as a Non-Executive Director on the Moneyhub board.

Samantha Seaton, CEO, Moneyhub comments:
“We are delighted to welcome Anne to the Moneyhub team. Her experience, ethos and desire to ensure that open banking, open finance and open data is capitalised on as a force for good, chimes with everything we, as a business, stand for. Anne’s tenacity and experience are perfectly aligned to the drive we have at Moneyhub and her transparent approach will be well received by our team, our customers and the market. I would also like to thank Rael very much for his exceptional support in helping us get Moneyhub where we are today, a journey that couldn’t have happened without him.”

Anne de Kerckhove comments:
“Moneyhub’s vision is both interesting and future forward. I truly enjoy nurturing stakeholder relations and creating a supportive and challenging board with both executive teams and shareholders. Moneyhub is uniquely fundamental to businesses where a data driven customer experience is required. As a result the market for Moneyhub is enormous and I am excited to help make the most of this opportunity.”

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Contacts

Eleanor Ross
Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)
ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com
M: +44 7393 758 446

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About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with our clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities. Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.

For more information, please visit moneyhub.com.

Rising dependence on payday loans highlights ongoing financial struggles

• An increasing number of Brits are resorting to payday loans to manage day-to-day expenses

• More people have applied for payday loans than mortgages in the last 6 months

• Many applicants are being directed to other financial products or being outright rejected

• This trend underscores the precarious financial situation faced by many in the UK.

New research from Moneyhub has shed light on a concerning trend emerging in the UK; a significant number of Brits are increasingly resorting to payday loans in order to manage their day-to-day expenses.

These findings have revealed that in the past six months, more individuals have applied for payday loans (18%) than mortgages (10%), highlighting the precarious financial situation faced by many.

Of the 18% who applied for payday loans, 6% were accepted, with 4% being rejected outright and 8% being offered a different, more suitable product. Furthermore, over a quarter (27%) of respondents reportedly engaged in risky financial behaviour, such as missing credit card payments or defaulting on a personal loan in the last 12 months. 

These findings highlight the urgent need for financial services providers to better identify and support vulnerable customers. While some applicants were directed to more appropriate financial products, the numbers indicate that this effort is not sufficient. 

Suzanne Homewood, Managing Director of Decisioning at Moneyhub comments: “As more people become reliant on payday loans, it is crucial that providers spot risky financial behaviours and identify potentially vulnerable customers ahead of time.  

“By moving away from traditional methods of credit checking, we’d likely see an increase in providers recommending better-suited products and services for their customers' individual situations. This is because they will be able to understand their customer's true and holistic financial world and identify potential risks. Not only will this help businesses ensure they are truly supporting customers and putting their best interests at heart and in line with consumer duty obligations, but prevent consumers from getting themselves into financial trouble through defaults.”

“Moneyhub's Open Banking data insights provide lenders and collections teams with an incredibly clear view of an applicant's ability to afford or continue to pay for the service or product. We want to see more organisations using services like this before they commit their customers to products that just aren't suited to them. Financial vulnerability can't be easily eradicated, but it can be positively impacted by using new tools available to them.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

Contacts

Helen Miller                                      Eleanor Ross

Marketing Director,  Moneyhub           Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)

Helen.miller@moneyhub.com            ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com

                         M: +44 7393 758 446

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001 certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.

For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com.

Further expansion prompts new senior sales hires for Moneyhub

Further expansion prompts new senior sales hires for Moneyhub

• Moneyhub announces three new hires across Personal Finance Technology and Decisioning teams as demand for its Open Finance solutions continues to grow

• Moneyhub has seen strong growth across its business in 2023 and 2024, with new clients such as Scottish Widows and Standard Life. It also announced its founding member status of the Pension Dashboard Operators Coalition.

Moneyhub, the market-leading data and payments platform, continues its growth trajectory as it announces three new senior hires within its Personal Finance Technology (PFT) and Decisioning teams. This latest announcement follows a year of significant growth for Moneyhub, with high demand for its Open Finance solutions from new clients such as Scottish Widows, Standard Life and Voxi by Vodafone. 

Jack Goulston has joined the Personal Finance Technology (PFT) line of business as one of its two new Business Development Directors. Moneyhub’s PFT creates highly customisable consumer engagement platforms for clients, helping them build effective and transformative personal finance management journeys that support end-customers with their day-to-day money management, and longer-term savings and investments through white-labelled solutions and widgets. Jack’s previous 3 years were at Juni, an e-money institution, successfully leading the growth strategy as their Senior Commercial Director. At Moneyhub, Jack will take the sales leadership of PFT’s growth within the retail financial services, utilities, and general insurance sectors. Jack will also be instrumental in supporting the sales of commercial pension dashboards as demand from financial services firms for Moneyhub’s solution grows.   

John Parker is the other new Business Development Director for PFT. In addition to being a practising Independent Financial Adviser, he recently held the position of Head of Business Development at Iress and Sales & Marketing Director at CTC Software. John’s experience will help him lead the PFT growth agenda for open finance solutions across pensions, investments, and wealth sectors. 

Rick Biggs joins the Decisioning line of business, which took home ‘Lendtech of the Year’ in 2023’s UK Fintech Awards, following his latest role as Fraud Solution Specialist at SAS. Rick will be responsible for the sales function of Moneyhub’s innovative Decisioning capabilities that enhance and optimise eligibility, suitability, affordability and vulnerability processes across multiple sectors, with Open Finance powered products for originations, collections and back end data analytics and compliance.

These new hires follow a successful few years of growth for Moneyhub. This involves several high-profile client wins and renewals. Moneyhub has also been named as a supplier to the government’s Crown Commercial Service (CCS) for open banking, Moneyhub most recently became a founding member of the Pension Dashboard Operators Coalition (PDOC) alongside household names such as Standard Life, Legal & General, and Just Group.

Dan Scholey, Chief Operating Officer of Moneyhub, said: “Moneyhub has been growing considerably over recent years, and these new hires are just the next step in our expansion. Our Open Finance solutions are increasingly being chosen by businesses looking to solve their most complex issues smoothly and cost-effectively. Whether that problem is being better able to identify vulnerable customers or creating more meaningful and lasting relationships with customers, our solutions can provide the step-change needed. 

I’m delighted to welcome Jack, John and Rick to the Moneyhub team as we continue to go from strength to strength. We have ambitious plans for the future and look forward to working together to make these ambitions a reality in the coming months and years.” 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

Contacts

Ingrid Anusic                                      Eleanor Ross
Marketing Director,  Moneyhub           Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)

ingrid.anusic@moneyhub.com            moneyhub@teamspirit.uk.com

M:  +44 783 722 6553                 M: +44 7393 758 446

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with our clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities. Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.

For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com.

Moneyhub launches new Carbon Counter API ‘Recipe’, unlocking the ability to give customers an overview of the carbon footprint of their financial transactions

• Moneyhub has partnered with leading carbon analysis companies to launch the new ‘Carbon Counter’ API recipe.

• The new ‘Carbon Counter’ API Recipe from Moneyhub will allow businesses to provide customers with an environmental overview of their finances and the insight to make more informed decisions.

• It can easily be plugged into existing systems and solutions.

Moneyhub, the market-leading data and payments platform, has partnered with leading carbon measurement companies to launch its latest API ‘Recipe’, Carbon Counter, empowering businesses to deliver real-life insights to their customers into the environmental impact of their financial behaviours. The Recipe combines Moneyhub’s Open Banking and Open Finance API connections to ensure plugging into existing systems and solutions is quick, easy and cost-effective.

Using Moneyhub’s Carbon Counter API Recipe, businesses are able to provide customers with the carbon footprint for their transactions, giving them an instant overview of the environmental impact of their finances, along with personalised insight and guidance on how they can improve their carbon footprint and make more informed choices. By collaborating with market-leading companies such as Connect Earth and Cogo, Moneyhub is able to ensure the highest quality and accuracy in environmental impact data.

UK consumers are becoming increasingly more environmentally conscious. The ONS found that more than eight in ten (86.5%) adults in Great Britain have already made at least some changes to their lifestyle to help tackle environmental issues. This new tool will enable businesses to meet this customer need, better supporting them as they look to reduce their carbon emissions and footprint.

Kim Jenkins, MD of API at Moneyhub, comments: “We’re all becoming increasingly aware of our obligation to protect and minimise our impact on the environment, and it’s clear that this is a growing priority amongst consumers. Businesses are in a unique position where they could change behaviours across the UK and, in doing so, grow loyalty amongst their customer base.

However, accessing this data and applying the intelligence can be challenging, many of whom will be contending with legacy systems. And once the data is accessed it also needs to be analysed by a credible partner to enable these actionable insights. Using Open Banking and Carbon Analysis, businesses can easily access the connections and provide insights to customers to help influence their buying decisions and live more sustainably. We hope that our API Recipe better enables businesses to meet this customer demand, and help them to better understand the impact of their buying decisions and make improvements to the benefit of us all!”

For more information on Moneyhub’s Carbon Counter API Recipe and the other API Recipes currently offered, please see here, or to find out more details on our partners Connect Earth and Cogo. 

-Ends-

Notes to editors

Contacts

Emily Penner                                 Eleanor Ross

Marketing Director,  Moneyhub             Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)

emily.penner@moneyhub.com             ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com

Research Methodology

Research conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Moneyhub amongst 2,000 UK consumers (nationally representative sample). To provide further insight for the whitepaper, Lansons Team Farner interviewed 16 senior building society stakeholders in February and March 2024. Interviewees were drawn from a mix of large and medium-sized building societies, as well as the Building Societies Association and Open Banking Limited.

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001 certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.

Building Societies rank highest for customer satisfaction but are failing to convert customers as neobanks grow market share

• Customers ranked supermarkets and Building Societies as the most likely to put their customers’ interests first 

• Energy providers, social media and insurers ranked the lowest in Moneyhub’s research

• The FCA calls for Building Societies to embrace Open Finance or risk struggling to attract the next generation of customers  

Building Societies are failing to convert high customer satisfaction rates into expanding their customer base, and risk losing market share within the younger demographic to challenger and neobanks with superior digital offerings, according to a new report from Moneyhub. Younger generations show a marked preference for Open Banking and Open Finance enabled interactions and to secure a future, Building Societies must align their offerings with these digital expectations.

The report, “Digitise or die”: a call to arms for building societies’, delves into how Building Societies can navigate the critical juncture they find themselves in: being at the forefront of the digitisation of financial services while retaining their reputation for being customer-centric and community-focussed.

Building Societies’ reputation for customer centricity is reflected in the data. When respondents were polled on which customer-facing businesses were most likely to act with their customers’ interests at heart, it found that energy providers, social media firms and insurers were ranked lowest, scoring  20%, 22% and 22% respectively. Building Societies and Supermarkets were at the top of the list at 41% each. 

However, despite the public perception that they are the most likely to look out for their customers’ best interests, Building Societies possess just a third (32%) of market share and are struggling to attract the younger generation of savers. The market share drops to just 24% amongst 18-34 year olds. Although the figure is less stark, this problem is not limited to Building Societies. High street banks see their market share dip from 52% of the UK overall, to 49% for 18-34 year olds. Instead, younger generations are increasingly more likely to turn to the challenger and neobanks for their financial products - this group holds over a quarter of market share amongst 18-34 year olds compared to 16% overall. Specialist sustainability banks also have increased in popularity amongst the younger generations having 8% market share amongst this group compared to 6% of the UK overall.

In addition the data found that 68% of 18-34 year olds favoured using a digital app to manage their money and that it could help them save more, compared to 48% of the overall population, and 66% want access to financial products and services without the need to visit a physical branch- demonstrating the need for Building Societies to digitally evolve to meet the needs of future generations.  

When investigating what drives customers to choose financial products, the research found that the provision of a good online platform and an easy application process were both considered important by 80% of respondents, while an easy to use digital app came in at 67%. Brand recognition is still one of the key influences, with 68% saying it was important to them.

When asked why they weren’t prepared to switch to a Building Society, 19% of respondents said they didn’t know enough about Building Societies to choose one and 12% say they haven’t seen them advertised.

Mark Horwood-James, MD of Personal Finance Technology at Moneyhub comments: “It’s clear that Building Societies have a strong group of core customers, and have developed a well deserved reputation for acting with the customer’s interests at heart. As well regarded financial institutions, they are currently selling short their best attributes and failing to appeal to younger demographics by failing to evolve their digital offerings. 

“Part of the solution to this problem is embracing the digital capabilities at their disposal and showing that their product offerings can match the neo and challenger banks with their services. The FCA recently said that the Building Society sector must embrace technology and continue to evolve without losing their community-centred credentials*

“In addition, speaking at the Building Societies Annual Conference, chief executive of the Building Societies Association (BSA), Robin Fieth, unveiled his ambition to double the membership of UK Building Societies over the next decade. At Moneyhub, we believe that this ambition is possible if there is an effort to adopt Open Finance across Building Societies.”

Read the full report here.

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Notes to editors

*Source: Building our societies through lending and savings, Speech by Emily Shepperd, FCA Chief Operating Officer delivered at the Building Societies Annual Conference, 09/05/2024, “By leveraging innovations such as Open Finance, AI, and digitalisation, building societies can streamline operations, boost resilience, and enhance the customer experience.” https://www.fca.org.uk/news/speeches/building-our-societies-through-lending-and-savings

Contacts

Ingrid Anusic                                      Eleanor Ross
Marketing Director,  Moneyhub           Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)
ingrid.anusic@moneyhub.com           ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com
M: +44 783 722 6553                  M: +44 7393 758 446

Research Methodology

Research conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Moneyhub amongst 2,000 UK consumers (nationally representative sample). To provide further insight for the whitepaper, Lansons Team Farner interviewed 16 senior Building society stakeholders in February and March 2024. Interviewees were drawn from a mix of large and medium-sized Building Societies, as well as the Building Societies Association and Open Banking Limited.

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with our clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities. Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.

For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com. 

Aviva, Mintago and Scottish Widows join the Dashboard Operators Coalition

The UK’s largest life insurer, a fintech firm, and the life and pensions arm of one of the UK’s largest retail banks, are the latest three companies to join the coalition of potential pensions dashboard operators.

Aviva, Mintago and Scottish Widows, which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, join Just Group, Legal & General, Moneyhub and Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, who will collectively work with government and regulators to help support the successful launch of dashboards for consumers.

Having originally agreed to work with the Pensions Dashboards Programme as a Volunteer Participant, Aviva have continued to advocate for Qualifying Pensions Dashboard Services (QPDSs) and the benefits they will bring to UK consumers.  Aviva will apply to the FCA to become a regulated dashboard operator once the QPDS regulatory framework has been finalised and applications can be submitted. 

Mintago, a London-based fintech founded in 2019 with a team of 30 people, also aims to become a QPDS operator as soon as possible.  It has received a £774,000 innovation loan from Innovate UK to enhance its technology platform which enables businesses to support their employees with their financial planning, alongside a comprehensive suite of financial wellbeing benefits.

Scottish Widows says we are in the ‘Connected 20s’, the decade when tech finally comes into its own to help people manage their day-to-day lives, including their money, savings and pensions.  Becoming an FCA regulated QPDS operator is a natural next step for Scottish Widows, giving customers more control and helping them find their lost pensions.  

Other potential operators of commercial pensions dashboards interested in joining too should contact the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) at info@pdoc.org.uk.

Independent Pensions Dashboards Consultant, and DOC Chair, Richard Smith, said:

"The sheer diversity of Aviva, Mintago and Scottish Widows as organisations demonstrates the wisdom of the government’s multiple dashboards policy.  A diversity of dashboards, all regulated by the FCA and showing the same pensions data, means consumers will be able to see all their pensions together in the place of their choosing.  More access points means more engagement.

“With the FCA’s consultation on QPDS Rules now closed, PDP’s resources bolstered as reported by the NAO, and certainty from DWP that pensions data will start becoming digitally connected from April 2025, many more diverse firms are planning to offer customers a QPDS.  They’re all welcome to join the DOC to help launch great dashboards for consumers as soon as possible.”

Aviva Director of Workplace Pensions, Emma Douglas said:

“Pension dashboards are set to help deliver a pensions revitalisation, now and for future generations.  Supporting our customers to ensure they get the retirement they deserve is paramount and expanding our digital service to include a holistic pension wealth view will help do just that. By joining the Coalition and its like-minded dashboard operators, we can collectively contribute to this important development.  Driving positive change for consumers is at the heart of the Coalition’s ethos.” 

Mintago Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Daniel Conti said:

“We are thrilled with our participation in what will transform the pensions landscape for consumers.  At Mintago, we are dedicated to integrating comprehensive financial planning into a core part of employee wellbeing benefits.  Our involvement as a QPDS operator represents a natural extension of our platform by offering individuals the ability to view their live pensions data as part of accessing their workplace benefits in a seamless and intuitive way, empowering them to make informed decisions about their financial future.”

Scottish Widows Workplace Pensions Director Graeme Bold said:

“I’m delighted Scottish Widows is part of the drive to establish pension dashboards, which are set to revolutionise how people will interact with their pensions. Our Retirement Report shows that 35% of people are not on track for even a minimum lifestyle in retirement and so it’s important to give people the financial insights they need, now. 

“Dashboards are a huge opportunity for people to bring their pensions together to better plan for their future. We already see customers connecting their pensions via Open Finance in the Scottish Widows app, demonstrating there is demand for a dashboard that helps people see their savings in one place and better plan for their retirement.” 

End

Notes to the editor

Organisations interested in finding out more about, or joining, the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) should contact info@pdoc.org.uk.

Contacts

Richard Smith Eleanor Ross

Chair, Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) Senior Account Director, Teamspirit

info@pdoc.org.uk eross@teamspirit.co.uk

M: +44 (0)7739 449 064 M: +44 (0)7393 758 446

About Aviva
We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China. We help our 19.2 million customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right. 

About Mintago

Mintago is the all-in-one platform for businesses that want to invest in their team’s financial wellbeing. We’re simplifying the world of finance for employees — bringing everything they need together, into a single hub. With Mintago, employees can access our comprehensive mix of benefits and learning resources, alongside pensions, salary sacrifice schemes and more — all from one place. We’re building a home for financial wellbeing, helping people make smarter choices and do more with their money.

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Its mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.

About Scottish Widows

Founded in 1815, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest digital bank and financial services group. With over £210bn assets under administration and six million customers, Scottish Widows’ award‐winning product range includes workplace and individual pensions, annuities, life cover, critical illness, income protection as well as savings and investment products. Customers can access our products and services through independent financial advisers, directly, and through all Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and Halifax branches.

Front-end dashboard rules must support consumers’ requests for post-launch change, says Dashboard Operators Coalition

A key thing we know, from decades of pensions dashboards operational experience in continental Europe, is that, once launched, dashboards will definitely need to change.

Continental experience

In the summer of 2023, acting Chair of the new Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC), Richard Smith, went on a research tour visiting the five country teams who have been operating dashboards for well over a decade.  Richard said:

“All the dashboard teams I met (in Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, and The Hague), told me it’s only once dashboards are live and being used at scale that feedback really flows in from different types of users about the numerous changes they want to see to how dashboards work.”

All five of the dashboards in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands have developed and changed enormously since they were originally launched.  Changes are based on extensive user feedback so that the dashboards better meet users’ needs continually over time.

DAP isn’t the end, it’s the start

In the UK, Government and Regulators agree, continually stating that dashboards will iterate and improve over time, with richer data and deeper functionality, once they are launched.

Many people have heard of the Dashboards Available Point (DAP), i.e. the date from when dashboards will be available to the UK general public.

But the DAP isn’t the end of the dashboards programme.  On the contrary, it’s just the start of a never-ending continual process of improvement of dashboards so that different types of UK consumers have a better and better experience of dashboards over time.

How flexible are the rules for front-end dashboards to support post-launch change?

In the UK, there’s quite a lot of Governmental and Regulatory control over commercial dashboards (which we know from international evidence will be, by far, the dashboards which most consumers choose to use, due to their ease, functionality, and wider open-finance links).

Commercial dashboards in the UK are regulated by three complementary sets of controls:

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Regulations

Description

DWP Primary legislation (Pension Schemes Act 2021 Section 118) and Secondary legislation (Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 Part 2)

What is the change mechanism?

Parliament must debate all changes to Primary legislation, and also all changes to the Pensions Dashboards Regulations (through the affirmative procedure)

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Rules

Description

FCA Handbook Conduct of Business (COB) Rules which apply to FCA-authorised Pensions Dashboard Service (PDS) firms*.

What is the change mechanism?

FCA Rule Review Framework which defines how FCA monitor and review how well their Rules are working in practice

PDP Standards

Description

Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) Standards from the Money & Pensions Service (MaPS)**

What is the change mechanism?

MaPS PDP Standards governance framework envisaging minor changes every six months and major changes every year

* As at Spring 2024, the FCA is consulting on draft PDS COB Rules with an aim of publishing settled Rules in Q4 2024

** PDP published updated Data Standards on 30 April 2024, but PDP’s other six sets of Standards (Design, Technical, Reporting, Security, Service and Operational) are all currently draft

So what will need to change, post-launch?

We don’t know, and the continental experience is that we won’t know until dashboards are launched and consumers of different types start giving live feedback.

This is why the four DOC member firms (Just Group, Legal & General, Moneyhub and Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group) are so keen for dashboards to be launched as soon as possible so that we can start hearing consumers’ live usage feedback and their requests for enhancements.

Examples of consumers’ possible requests for change

Here are a couple examples of things consumers might say once dashboards are live:

“The journey steps when I use a pensions dashboard are too confusing and too wordy”

To improve the journey steps, and make dashboards more usable for consumers, would definitely require changes to PDP Design Standards and quite probably to FCA Rules too

“To help me decide whether, and how, to consolidate my different defined contribution (DC) pensions, I really need to be able to see DC pension charges on dashboards”

To meet this need would definitely require changes to DWP Regulations and PDP Data Standards, and very likely to FCA Rules too

Of course, there are almost limitless things consumers might feed back, and a key role of the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) will be to amass and sift all this rich consumer feedback.  The DOC is well-placed to do this as it will represent providers of the most-used dashboards.

So the multi-faceted nature of dashboards regulation needs to be nimble

Richard Smith concludes: “So wherever the FCA Rules and PDP Standards settle initially, it is a certainty that they will need to change in light of live usage consumer feedback.  DWP, FCA and MaPS PDP therefore all need to be nimble and make rapid changes to their Regulations, Rules & Standards so that dashboards can continue to work well for different types of UK consumers”.

All potential operators of commercial dashboards are welcome to join the Coalition, as they commit to offering their own pensions dashboards: please contact info@pdoc.org.uk

-Ends-

Notes to the editor

Organisations interested in finding out more about, or potentially joining, the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) should contact info@pdoc.org.uk.

Contacts

Richard Smith Eleanor Ross

Chair, Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) Senior Account Director, Teamspirit

info@pdoc.org.uk eross@teamspirit.co.uk

M: +44 (0)7739 449 064 M: +44 (0)7393 758 446

About Just
Just (Just Group plc) is a FTSE-listed specialist UK financial services company.  A leader in the individual retirement income, care and defined benefit de-risking markets, Just has been trusted to manage more than £26 billion of customers’ retirement savings and has helped customers release over £6.5 billion from their properties.  Just provides a wide range of products, advice and professional services to individual customers, financial intermediaries, corporate clients and pension scheme trustees.

About Legal & General

Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management (as at 31 December 2023) of which 40% is international.  We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns.  Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions.  We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income.  Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders.  Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities.  Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.  To find out how to give the gift of financial wellness, and reap the rewards, visit www.moneyhub.com.

About Standard Life

Standard Life is a brand that has been trusted to look after peoples’ life savings for nearly 200 years.  Today it proudly serves millions of customers who come to Standard Life directly, through advisers and through their employers’ pension scheme.  Standard Life is part of the Phoenix Group, the largest long-term savings and retirement business in the UK.  We’re proud to be building on nearly 200 years of Standard Life heritage together.  Our products include a variety of Pensions, Bonds and Retirement options to suit people’s needs, helping our customers to invest and save for their future.  We’re proud to offer a leading range of sustainable and responsible investment options.  We support our customers on their journey to and through retirement with comprehensive, easy-to-understand guidance so they can invest in the right way for their needs, and plan a future they feel confident about.  The value of investments can go down as well as up, and may be worth less than originally invested.

A lack of guidance - a quarter of consumers feel neglected by their pensions and investment providers

A lack of guidance is holding people back from making more prudent financial decisions, according to new research from award-winning Open Banking, Open Finance and Payments provider Moneyhub.

In a sign that some financial service providers are not delivering on their FCA Consumer Duty requirements, a quarter (24%) of consumers state that their investment and pensions providers fail to provide good quality support and after-sales care. 

The research points to a concerning disparity in guidance and advice between consumers falling within different income brackets. While 42% of people say they don't find it easy to interact with their provider, this shrinks to only 15% of those earning £100,000 or more. For higher earners, 40% strongly agreed that their provider offers them a personalised service, compared to an average of 13% for those earning under £100,000.

Technological shortcomings can be at least partially to blame for the guidance gap. A fifth (21%) of consumers said that being able to make flexible top-ups, based on how much they have spare each month, would encourage them to add more into their pensions or investments. In a similar vein, 16% stated that they would benefit from easy to access projections on what their current savings could be worth in the future.

Open Finance offers a simple route for providers looking to incorporate such propositions into their offerings. Alongside being able to find and view all their pensions data, Moneyhub’s technology also allows consumers to connect to and see their bank accounts, credit cards, savings, property valuations, ISAs, loans, mortgages, and other financial products all in one place, allowing them to make better long-term financial decisions and embed healthier money habits.

Mark Horwood-James, Managing Director at Moneyhub Personal Finance Technology said:

“With the current availability of customer-focussed solutions through Open Finance and Open Banking technologies, there’s no reason for consumers to be still struggling with feelings of uncertainty or neglect. Through the advance of technology, good financial guidance does not have to be exclusive to those who are wealthy enough to pay for the privilege. 

“The opportunity is clear for financial service providers: empower customers to make better financial decisions and, in the process, improve their financial wellbeing and ability to save or invest. The race is on to deliver the best solutions and experiences that benefit all customers.”

Margaret Snowdon, OBE said:

“The adoption of new technologies, especially in the form of Open Finance and Open Banking solutions, performs two important actions at once for pensions and investment providers. On the one hand it is the only way to face up and respond to the new FCA Consumer Duty demands - the key elements of the relationship between the provider and consumer can all be addressed through the simple adoption of already available technologies. On the other hand, the technologies improve the customer’s chances of making the correct financial decisions at the right time, thus bettering outcomes for themselves and their provider.”

To read the full report, please visit https://go.moneyhub.com/gift-for-you-pr.

About the research

The Survey was commissioned by Moneyhub in December 2023 and conducted by market research leaders, 3Gem Research and Insights. With an equal gender split of 1,000 respondents aged 25+ and from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, each consumer was asked a standardised set of 18 questions relating to their pensions, investments and wider financial wellness.

Contacts

Ingrid Anusic                                     
Marketing Director, Moneyhub          
ingrid.anusic@moneyhub.com             
M:  +44 783 722 6553                

Eleanor Ross
Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)
ERoss@teamspirit.co,uk
M: +44 7393 758 446

About Moneyhub
Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with clients to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities. Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.

To find out how to give the gift of financial wellness, and reap the rewards, please visit www.moneyhub.com. 

New coalition for all operators of dashboards to support a successful launch and ongoing enhancements for consumers: Just Group, L&G, Moneyhub & Standard Life get the ball rolling

Four potential operators of pensions dashboards (Just Group, Legal & General, Moneyhub and Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group) are coming together to instigate a new industry coalition.

Members of the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) will collaborate with each other, with government, and with regulators, to support the launch of highly effective dashboards to consumers as early as possible.

All potential operators of commercial dashboards are welcome to join the Coalition, as they commit to offering their own pensions dashboards: contact info@pdoc.org.uk for details.

What is the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) for?

Dashboards are new to the UK, but there is strong international evidence demonstrating the key ingredient for successful delivery is deep collaboration.  International learnings include:

• commercial dashboards are popular, representing 95%* of all dashboards usage, and

• ·varied consumer feedback on dashboards is essential, both during pre-launch usability testing, and on an ongoing basis to inform post-launch enhancements.

Working closely with government and regulators, the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) will: 

• support the safe, secure and successful early launch of multiple pensions dashboards

• help ensure dashboards meet different users’ needs effectively at launch, and

• provide rich consumer feedback to inform future iterative dashboards enhancements.

Together, the DOC will help address the numerous remaining challenges around testing, launching and iterating highly effective dashboards for consumers.

Some critical topics haven’t yet had detailed attention.  Collaboration on these points will prove very beneficial for all parties, but most importantly for a good consumer experience of dashboards, such as:

• Pre-Connection Audit (PCA) scope: agreeing the optimal scope of statutory PCAs so dashboards’ adherence to PDP Standards delivers a consistent consumer experience

• Identity Service integration: optimising dashboards’ integration with the central Identity and Consent Services for a seamless, yet secure, consumer user journey 

• DAP readiness assessment: supporting the Secretary of State’s assessment to make the Dashboards Available Point (DAP) launch notice as early as possible for consumers

• Post-launch enhancements: providing rich and varied consumer feedback to inform iterative enhancements to dashboards, as has happened with European dashboards.

Why is the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) being established now?

The DOC is being set up now as, earlier in March, new HM Treasury enabling legislation came into force which made “Operating a pensions dashboard service” a brand new FCA-regulated activity.

The DOC is initially being instigated by four firms, but all other organisations are welcome to join the Coalition as they commit to offering their own pensions dashboards.

Organisations interested in finding out more should contact info@pdoc.org.uk

Who’s behind the Coalition?

Independent Dashboards Consultant Richard Smith is leading this initiative.  Richard led the development of the PDP Data Standards for dashboards in 2019/20, and is currently actively supporting the PLSA, PASA and Moneyhub on dashboards.  Richard also did an independent research tour of 5 continental dashboards teams in 2023 who all said: “Collaboration is key!”.

Quotes, in alphabetical order of organisation:

Independent Dashboards Consultant, and DOC Chair, Richard Smith, said:

"My research tour of five continental pensions dashboards teams in 2023 confirmed to me that launching dashboards is a highly challenging endeavour.  But the key to getting them done is very close collaboration, both across the industry, and also between industry and government.

“On the supply of data to dashboards, the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) is working very closely with the government’s Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP).  Now, for the ‘front-end’ consumer experience of dashboards themselves, there needs to be an equivalent industry coalition, where dashboard operators can come together to share their questions, ideas and feedback to develop and maintain best practice for operating dashboards.

“We know from research reports that consumers desperately want to use commercial pensions dashboards, on apps they already use and trust (such as their banking or pension app).  And they want to do this as soon as possible.  So I’m very grateful to the first four firms (Just Group, Legal & General, Moneyhub and Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group) for taking the lead with this new Coalition.  I hope other firms will see the benefits of joining the Coalition too, as they decide to offer their own dashboards.” 

Just Group Marketing and Distribution Director, and HUB Group CEO, David Cooper said:

“Just Group sees pensions dashboards as a critical building block to help consumers engage with their retirement savings. Through the Dashboard Operators Coalition we aim to accelerate learnings and insights capture across the industry so that commercial dashboards meet customer needs and fulfil their incredible potential.”

Legal & General Managing Director of Workplace Katharine Photiou said:

“With more than five million workplace pension members, Legal & General has long maintained that the introduction of pensions dashboards is the key to better retirement outcomes.  As one of the first providers to test the technology and the processes needed to establish the foundations of a dashboards ecosystem, we have remained committed to dashboards’ potential to help people stay connected with their pots and take stock of their overall savings.

“As an industry, we need to come together to make sure that the introduction of dashboards really shifts the dial on how people plan and prepare for retirement.  We will put the full weight of our experience behind the efforts of the DOC to help make pensions dashboards a success from day one.”

Money & Pensions Service (MaPS) Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) Principal Chris Curry, said: 

“The theme running throughout the delivery of pensions dashboards is that we’ll make a success of them by working together.  The Pensions Dashboards Programme welcomes initiatives that foster greater collaboration between industry, regulators and government.  The development of dashboards will be a crucial step to giving people the tools to enhance engagement with their pensions, and we’ll continue to work closely with all organisations looking to become dashboard providers.” 

Moneyhub Chief Executive Officer Sam Seaton said:

“International evidence strongly shows that consumers prefer to see all their pensions in a familiar, trusted app they already use, such as a banking, pension, or money management app.

"Through Open Finance, these apps also enable connections to users’ other finances, showing consumers the broader context of their financial position as it develops over their lifetime.

"So, as an industry, we urgently need to collaborate to launch commercial pensions dashboards for consumers as soon as possible.  Working with the FCA and PDP, the Dashboard Operators Coalition will be instrumental in bringing an open and collaborative environment to commercial pensions dashboards, and in doing so, help millions of consumers achieve a healthier financial future.”

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, Workplace Managing Director Gail Izat said:

“I’m delighted that we will be a founding member of the Dashboard Operators Coalition.  We are committed to providing a Pensions Dashboard for our customers as soon as possible and cooperation amongst industry to solve some of the remaining issues should help dashboards launch.  Pensions Dashboards represent a once in a generation chance to move the dial on pensions engagement, so it is crucial that government and industry get it right.”

Other organisations interested in finding out more about, or joining, the Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC) should contact info@pdoc.org.uk.

Contacts
Richard Smith                                                                                           
Chair, Dashboard Operators Coalition (DOC)                   
info@pdoc.org.uk
M: +44 (0)7739 449 064                                                              

Eleanor Ross
Senior Account Director, Teamspirit
eross@teamspirit.co.uk
M: +44 (0)7393 758 446

About Just
Just (Just Group plc) is a FTSE-listed specialist UK financial services company.  A leader in the individual retirement income, care and defined benefit de-risking markets, Just has been

trusted to manage more than £26 billion of customers’ retirement savings and has helped customers release over £6.5 billion from their properties.  Just provides a wide range of products, advice and professional services to individual customers, financial intermediaries, corporate clients and pension scheme trustees.

About Legal & General

Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management (as at 31 December 2023) of which 40% is international.  We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns.  Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions.  We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income.  Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders.  Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub’s goal is simple; to work with client to improve the financial wellness of people, their businesses, and their communities.  Hundreds of companies use our award-winning Open Banking and Open Finance technology to better understand their customers through data so they can comply with Consumer Duty, deliver them more suitable products, and automate money management or payments to ultimately increase their capacity to spend, save or invest more.  To find out how to give the gift of financial wellness, and reap the rewards, visit www.moneyhub.com.

About Standard Life

Standard Life is a brand that has been trusted to look after peoples’ life savings for nearly 200 years.  Today it proudly serves millions of customers who come to Standard Life directly, through advisers and through their employers’ pension scheme.  Standard Life is part of the Phoenix Group, the largest long-term savings and retirement business in the UK.  We’re proud to be building on nearly 200 years of Standard Life heritage together.  Our products include a variety of Pensions, Bonds and Retirement options to suit people’s needs, helping our customers to invest and save for their future.  We’re proud to offer a leading range of sustainable and responsible investment options.  We support our customers on their journey to and through retirement with comprehensive, easy-to-understand guidance so they can invest in the right way for their needs, and plan a future they feel confident about.  The value of investments can go down as well as up, and may be worth less than originally invested.

Moneyhub teams up with Rebcat and Navos to develop next-generation technology to support ‘advice gap’ customers

Fintech providers Rebcat Technology, Moneyhub, and Navos Technologies have joined forces to develop and deliver next-generation technology that will enable large financial institutions to provide personalised financial support, guidance, and advice to their customers – providing a much-needed advice life-line for the many who fall into the advice gap.

 The three businesses are pooling their collective skills, knowledge, and data to provide a range of personalised plug-and-play services to organisations committed to improving the value they provide to all customers - ensuring that no one is left behind.

 With Rebcat’s tried and tested technology at the core of the offering, early solutions focus on bridging the advice gap suffered by millions of individuals across the UK and will include essential financial management, protection, investment, and mortgages.

 Commenting on the partnership, Rebcat founder and CEO Anthony Morrow said: “The FCA, through Consumer Duty and subsequent actions, consultations, and statements, has put real consumers at the heart of its thinking and future plans. While this provides huge challenges for organisations, especially those with large legacy client bases, it also provides tremendous opportunities for those who can spot them and are willing to embrace the changes needed to capitalise on them. 

 By working with Navos and Moneyhub, we are not only partnering with two of the most respected and admired organisations operating in and around the sector but also ensuring the solutions we develop are at the very cutting edge of what the market has to offer. We are already seeing considerable appetite from forward-thinking organisations eager to develop further and demonstrate the value they offer clients.” 

 Moneyhub CEO Sam Seaton said: “The upcoming changes to the Data Bill and the FCA’s proposals to relax the advice-guidance boundary highlight the significant role of digital advice businesses in the future. We have seen first-hand how advanced and robust Rebcat technology is and are delighted with this partnership and the opportunities it brings to unlock financial wellness for more people.”

 Navos CEO and Founder David Davies commented: “With our understanding of the advisory and wealth industry, dovetailed with our unique positioning in delivering innovative solutions, we are proud of the relationship that we are building with Anthony and the team at Moneyhub.  We are confident this will lead the way in providing a much-needed digital solution and create positive outcomes for both firms and clients whilst driving efficiencies and increasing engagement.” 

 Ends

 About Moneyhub

Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001 certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.

About Navos Technologies

Navos is a specialist technology solutions provider founded by ex-CIO of Hargreaves Lansdown David Davies. Headquartered in Bristol, the business specialises in combining years of expert knowledge and experience with a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions to help organisations operating in and around the financial services sector navigate tomorrow’s technology challenges today.

 About Rebcat Technology

Rebcat provides technology to financial services companies looking to enhance their customer proposition through digitisation and advice services.The spin-out of OpenMoney, the digital adviser acquired by Octopus Group in 2023, its technology has been proven in a regulated and scaled environment providing advice and administration to almost 20,000 customers. Focusing on the B2B market, Rebcat’s services range from full, white-labelled end-to-end investment and mortgage advice to a bespoke personal finance and engagement app harnessing Open Data technologies, all designed to enable companies to provide personalised support and advice to customers. 

All roads lead to data - Moneyhub gives full support to ‘game changing’ FCA Advice Guidance Boundary Review proposals

• The Review builds on data focused regulatory initiatives

• Targeted support, simplified guidance and holistic advice will co-exist using the same underlying ‘open data rails’

• Firms must reimagine life and product events and use data to help consumers compare, choose and buy financial products and services

Moneyhub, the leading provider of Open Banking, Open Finance and Financial Wellness solutions to the Pensions and Investment industry has today submitted its response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Advice Guidance Boundary Review proposals (DP23/5). 

The FCA’s proposals seek to bridge the ‘Advice Gap’ which has resulted in just 8% of adults* reportedly taking financial advice, leaving millions of people unsure where to get help with decisions about investments, savings, pensions or retirement planning. 

Open Banking, Consumer Duty and Pensions Dashboards unlock consumers’ access to their data whilst putting customers’ needs at the heart of every financial services business. The Advice and Guidance Boundary Review can unite these regulatory initiatives so that, when it comes to managing their money, consumers can quickly and easily see both what they have and what to do next. The Data Protection and Information Bill will enable new Smart Data schemes and enable consumers to control their data like never before.

Sam Seaton, CEO of Moneyhub said:

“The FCA's proposals are a game-changer which Moneyhub supports. We know consumers are missing out on potentially higher returns on their money because products are too complicated; They don't know who to trust and advice is too expensive. Data is the answer for making advice accessible and implementing the new proposals. 

“Targeted support, simplified guidance and holistic advice will co-exist using the same underlying ‘open data rails’ with an appropriate regulatory framework over the top.

“Matching consumers who have defined objectives, needs and characteristics with suitable products, using data sharing and automated ‘nudges’, is a logical extension of the use of consumers’ data. Our financial wellness platform is already helping consumers to become more aware and informed, combined with our technology firms can now deliver targeted support and simplified guidance to millions of consumers”.

Vaughan Jenkins, Managing Director of Partnerships at Moneyhub said: 

“Moneyhub supports the Government and the FCA's desire to build a framework which consumers can trust, recognising the complexity faced by consumers in making financial decisions.  We believe that Open Finance, within the emerging Smart Data environment, will play a significant part in the realisation of these ambitions.  

“We urge regulators and policymakers to orchestrate Open Finance, Consumer Duty and the Advice and Guidance Boundary Review into a single coherent and comprehensive agenda for sustainable change. 

“Product manufacturers should be required to publish Open APIs that support customers’ access to their data and enable them to share data by their consent. This is the key to improving competition in favour of consumers”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Moneyhub’s response

The FCA outlined 3 proposals to make guidance and advice more accessible:

1. Clarifying the boundary between guidance and support

Moneyhub believes that over time, and in response to Consumer Duty, product providers will provide more automated ‘guidance’ (alerts, notifications and illustrations) within the current regulatory framework by making better use of the data and insights firms already have about consumers' use of their products. Indeed Moneyhub already does this for its clients across a range of products. 

2. Targeted Support

Targeted support provides the potential to reimagine life and product events by using data to help consumers compare, choose and buy new financial products and services, or change the way they use existing products. Moneyhub can help appropriately regulated firms access a wealth of consumer information on which suggestions can be made based upon ‘people like you’ with shared objectives, needs and characteristics. This proposal has huge potential to help consumers who would not normally access any form of advice to make informed decisions about their money after sharing data about themselves. 

3. Simplified Advice

Simplified advice means it will be possible to use a customer’s product and financial data to build an accurate and auditable picture of their finances so that a personal ‘decision tree’  could be created to drive a simple product recommendation or course of action, for example, to open or top up an ISA invested in a specific fund. Moneyhub is already working with firms to test how goals-optimisation can be combined with an automated feed of consumers’ financial data to show the probability of a financial outcome being achieved and create a personalised recommendation.

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001-certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.
For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com 

*DP23/5: Advice Guidance Boundary Review – proposals for closing the advice gap

Almost half of 18-34-year-olds put off life goals such as children due to affordability

Families are still feeling the acute financial burden caused by increased costs and higher interest rates, and new research from Moneyhub reveals that over half of people regularly worry about their financial situation. The research also shows that UK savers believe their banks could be doing significantly more to help them get to grips with their finances

The middle-aged are the most likely generation to feel the pressure on their purse strings, with 63% of 45-54-year-olds indicating they are worried about their finances.

However, while a total of 31% of those surveyed admitted to putting off life goals – such as having children – due to not being able to afford it, this figure shot up to 48% for 18-34 year-olds.

The generational differences don’t stop there. Across the two-fifths of respondents who regularly finish the month with no money in their accounts or with an overdraft, this number jumped to 54% for those aged 25-33 years old and fell to 35% for 55-60-year-olds.

Following a difficult year for personal finances, which saw consumers grapple with high inflation and soaring costs, 44% of respondents said they had to dip into their savings in the past 12 months. A further 28% said that they are struggling to save, while 18% have an erratic approach to savings, with some months being better than others. Tellingly, only 15% of respondents said they are able to save a significant portion of their income each month.

Although the research nods to the difficulties presented by macroeconomic pressures, it also shows that banks and financial institutions could do more to help. Over a third (34%) of respondents said that banks and financial institutions don’t make it easy to understand finances, and 31% said that they would save more if they understood their finances better.

When asked what they think banks can do to make life easier, 16% said that they’d like nudges for when they could be saving money or switching to better savings rates. 13% would like access to free money management apps that allow them to see and understand all their finances, and 12% said they wanted easier methods to contact customer services.

Kim Jenkins, Managing Director of Moneyhub API, said: “Our research makes it clear that there is an opportunity to help customers understand and manage their finances. By using the available technology, banks and financial institutions would be able to help their customers properly understand their financial situation and provide smart nudges that would help them make better financial decisions.

Through Open Banking capability and easy-to-build solutions such as Moneyhub’s Smart Saver API Recipe, banks can provide a helping hand for their customers to budget and know precisely when they have excess to save. This will also enable them to deliver better customer outcomes.”

About the research:

The research was conducted by Censuswide with 2,000 Nationally representative general consumers between 27.10.23 and 31.10.23. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society, which is based on the ESOMAR principles and is a member of The British Polling Council.

About Moneyhub’s Smart Saver Recipe

Moneyhub’s Smart Saving API recipe supports customers’ financial journeys through personalised and automated saving. With enhanced visibility through Open Banking and Open Finance offers, customers identify their realistic savings goals and expedite the process. The right mix of account aggregation and nudges.

With the data in hand, nudges instigate action. With the data in one view, nudges can trigger the right questions at the right time, helping more customers build their savings and become more financially resilient.

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001 certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.

For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com. 

Moneyhub to provide Open Banking solutions to UK government

London, 12 February 2024: Moneyhub has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Open Banking Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) framework for its Open Banking and Payment services. 
Crown Commercial Service supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2021/22, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £2.8 billion - supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers.

Moneyhub, is the leading data and payments platform built on Open Banking and Open Finance principles. Its solutions already help businesses in various sectors increase efficiency and offer consumers efficient, secure alternatives to card and cash payments. 

Through its work with clients such as Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Life, Legal & General, amongst hundreds of others, Moneyhub has proven the benefits of Open Banking and account-to-account payment solutions. Government organisations' ability to purchase Moneyhub services through the DPS will help more public sector services increase efficiency and experience the benefits that Open Banking delivers. 

Vaughan Jenkins, Managing Director of Partnerships at Moneyhub, comments: “At Moneyhub we're on a mission to enhance the lifetime financial wellness of people, their communities and their businesses, and the public sector has a significant opportunity to benefit from and lead the way in the mass adoption of Open Banking solutions.The continued adoption of Open Banking technology will result in better outcomes for taxpayers and the country.”

ENDS

Notes to editor:

About Moneyhub:

Moneyhub is a global ISO 27001 certified software developer of Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology

For more details, please visit www.moneyhub.com.  

About Crown Commercial Service:

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office,

supporting the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring

common goods and services.

To find out more about CCS, visit: www.crowncommercial.gov.uk

Follow us on Twitter: @gov_procurement

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/2827044

Moneyhub’s Personal Finance Technology continues its strong performance with new client wins

Moneyhub, the award-winning top 100 global fintech, is continuing its upward trajectory announcing three new cross-industry partners in recent weeks for the Personal Finance Technology (PFT) line of business.

PFT, which drives financial wellness through its personal finance solutions, helps its clients to support their customers by better understanding, managing and growing their money. Additionally using its award-winning platform, PFT provides notable opportunities for better Consumer Duty outcomes. This growing market proposition has seen increasing appeal from the advisory and accounting sectors, showcased by recent wins from WPS Advisory, The Tax Guys and 1Legacy. 

WPS Advisory (WPSA)

WPSA are committed to making high quality support, guidance and financial advice both accessible and affordable via their LifeStage proposition, with open banking at its very heart.

The partnership will see an app built on Moneyhub’s Open Banking technology, through which an individual will be able to clearly visualise and manage their current financial position, with an immediate pivot into a representation of their financial future, creating an environment where the user can see the impact of their decisions today on their life tomorrow.

The project supports evolution in the employee benefit and wellbeing space, as Moneyhub work with WPSA to engineer better financial outcomes for consumers and seek to solve one of the biggest mental health burdens on UK employees:  Financial Stress.

Simon Chrystal, CEO at WPS Advisory comments: 

“WPS Advisory have created a unique employee benefit in LifeStage which is designed to provide employers with a full employee support and financial confidence framework which helps align people and commercial objectives.

Our aim, working with Moneyhub as a partner, is to be able to provide full employee support, by combining our own people skills with leading edge technology. 

Lifestage provides access to tailored and affordable financial advice at key life stages by means of subscription and employer sponsorship.  The App and its wide ranging functionality is supported within an Open Banking framework.”

The Tax Guys

The Tax Guys are a tax advisory and accountancy services leader targeting sole-traders and small businesses. Seeking a digital solution to help clients stay on top of their finances and reduce the administrative burden of filing clients’ tax returns, they approached Moneyhub.

The Tax Guys will be offering their clients free access to a co-branded version of Moneyhub’s award-winning consumer app through Moneyhub’s Multibuy Plan proposition. This demonstrates their commitment to the financial wellness of their customers, as well as enabling those customers to easily share accurate data with The Tax Guys via the app for their tax returns digitally throughout the year.

Jonathan Amponsah, Managing Partner at The Tax Guys comments: “We’re delighted to partner with Moneyhub to roll-out a real win-win solution for The Tax Guys and our clients: we can streamline the admin involved in submitting tax returns, make it easy for our clients to share relevant data with us, and help them improve their financial wellness.”

1Legacy

1Legacy is a market innovator with a soon-to-launch digital portal that will help people navigate different stages of their financial life, plan for retirement, preserve assets and remove some of the heavy lifting involved in leaving and receiving a financial legacy through inheritance. 

1Legacy are white labelling Moneyhub’s financial management platform to offer their customers a complete and accurate picture of their finances alongside liquidity, assets vs. liabilities ratio and a probate cost calculator. Moneyhub is integrating with secure document storage vault Legado and scanning service Cleardata to enable 1Legacy users to access all of their important relevant documents, such as their will, through the app. 

Hendrik Bruinette founder at 1Legacy said: “We want to give people at every stage of life the intuitive tools they need to feel empowered and navigate life’s transitions. Whether that’s becoming a parent, preparing for retirement or getting an idea of what you are able to leave your loved ones. Navigating a financial legacy has traditionally involved stacks of paperwork and many complicated moving parts. Moneyhub’s technology will help us remove some of the administrative burdens and give people a really clear picture of what they’ve got, and what that looks like as a legacy. They have been fantastic at integrating with other systems to fit our requirements and we are excited to continue our work together.”

Mark Horwood-James, MD of Moneyhub’s Personal Financial Technology said: “ It’s heartening to see more businesses and sectors putting financial wellness at the heart of their strategy. Now, more than ever, people want and need to take control of their money, and seek out firms they entrust to help them do that through tools and technologies. We are very excited to be working with WPS Advisory, The Tax Guys and 1Legacy to unlock their customers' financial potential as well as help these clients achieve their strategic goals.

The adoption of Open Finance technology benefits consumers and businesses alike, driving financial wellness for individuals, and offering firms unparalleled insights to drive better customer outcomes in line with Consumer Duty.”

-Ends-

Notes to editors

Contacts

Ingrid Anusic                                     
Marketing Director,  Moneyhub          
ingrid.anusic@moneyhub.com           
M:  +44 783 722 6553                

Eleanor Ross
Senior Account Director, Teamspirit (Moneyhub PR Agency)
ERoss@teamspirit.uk.com
M: +44 7393 758 446

About Moneyhub

Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001 certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.

For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com.