Financial aggregation platform Bud has secured £1.5 million in a funding round co-led by Investec and Banco Sabadell.
The fresh funding for the two-year old startup comes off the back of a recent agreement with HSBC in which 2000 customers of the bank's first direct unit and 4000 non-customers will take part in a six month trial of the app, which will feature a range of tools that draw on account information from across providers.
Bud has agreements with over 60 financial service firms that it links together with retail banks in the UK, capitalising on the Open API movement and the looming deadline for the EU's latest Payment Services Directive.
Ed Maslaveckas, Bud's CEO, comments: "We recognise that fintech companies are providing quicker and more commercial products for consumers, but banks maintain 99% of the relationships when it comes to money. By connecting the two sides, everyone can benefit; banks, fintech and, most importantly, end customers."
Banco Sabadell, which owns the UK's TSB, carried out the investment through its digital business hub InnoCells and corporate venture vehicle, InnoCapital.
Julio Martínez, executive director of InnoCells, says that “investing in Bud is a great example of the benefits of bringing together the start-up world and the corporate world. The evolution of the digital relationship model with our customers is increasingly transforming the nature and sale of the financial product and service offering”.