Launched in December, the Fintech Growth Programme aims to help startups use NatWest’s resources, expertise and networks to scale-up sustainably. In addition, the initiative is designed to help drive the bank’s innovation pipeline.
The first five fintechs selected to participate are all pre-Series A UK based startups. Specifically, they are looking to develop their business ideas and provide innovative solutions addressing challenges in payments.
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According to NatWest, the programme allows fintechs to work collaboratively with its innovation team and senior decision makers. At the same time, the fintechs will benefit from a curated scale-up curriculum and opportunity to build a meaningful network. The small cohort boasts opportunities to connect, learn and build networks with other fellow fintechs, coaches and NatWest’s innovation function.
David Grunwald, Director of NatWest Innovation, said: “We’re pleased to welcome these five fintechs onto the NatWest Fintech Growth Programme. Their solutions and remarkable potential align with our commitment to create better outcomes for our customers. Collaborating closely with such talented UK entrepreneurs not only enhances our ability to be future focused. It reinforces our dedication to fostering the growth of the innovation community.”
Lee McNabb, Head of Payments Strategy & Partnerships at NatWest added: “Payments is a network business. The days where big banks do everything themselves are over. To succeed in meeting customer needs and keeping them secure in their payment experiences we must embrace collaboration, partnership and learning through others. This is why I’m a huge supporter of the Fintech Growth programme. Working together with a talented and thought-provoking group of entrepreneurs can only bring good things for the market and our customers.”
The 5 successful fintechs
Tunic Pay
Tunic Pay is building the trust infrastructure to break the spell of scams, while also releasing good transactions. It provides Payment Intelligence to banks, constituting of typology-specific data fields and adaptive insights. It says this is all delivered dynamically throughout stages of the payment journey.
Nicky Goulimis, co-founder at TunicPay said: “We’re thrilled to deepen our collaboration with NatWest. It’s a bank that has customer safety at its core, to transform the digital payment journey to better combat tomorrow’s fraud threats.”
mmob
mmob provides the tools for any business to import or export API services in any channel through their embedded finance toolkit.
Irfan Khan, CEO and founder of mmob said: “As a founder, I am looking forward to learning from the expertise of the NatWest team, especially in understanding how technology can be applied at scale to solve their customers’ problems. [And] learning from my fellow participants as we tackle challenges together.”
Aperidata
Aperidata is a challenger credit bureau. It says it is harnessing the power of open banking and is on a mission to improve financial inclusion by revolutionising credit scoring and lending processes.
Stephen Ashworth, CEO, AperiData said: “This collaboration is a tremendous opportunity for us as we continue our mission of driving better outcomes for the financially vulnerable and underserved consumers. Having access to NatWest’s senior leadership and industry experts will be invaluable as we embark on our next phase of growth.”
Sprive
Sprive is on a mission to help millions of homeowners live with less debt by finding spare cash to reduce their mortgage. With smart overpayments, market monitoring and cashback from everyday shopping, Sprive says homeowners can save thousands and pay off their mortgage faster
Jinesh Vohra, Co-founder and CEO, Sprive said: “Gaining access to expert guidance and tapping into NatWest’s valuable network presents an incredible opportunity for us as we continue our mission to help millions of homeowners pay off their mortgages faster.”
Ask Silver
Ask Silver protects people from scams with a Scam Checker. This allows anyone to send a screenshot of anything they aren’t sure about, like an email or text message, and receive an analysis in seconds.
Alex Somervell – Co-founder and CEO of Ask Silver said: “We’re really excited to be joining the NatWest Fintech Growth Programme to share learnings to protect more consumers from scams. Their team has already been innovating in the space, and we’re excited to work together to build the anti-scam tools of the future.”
The fintechs now participate in ten weeks of workshops, mentoring and coaching and will work with NatWest experts to support the scale up of their businesses.
