Ten more companies have joined the 2025 Fintech Pledge (pledge2025.org) that was launched in September to help tackle the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.
The second wave of expansion comes off a period of growth, with the new member base doubling to 22 since the last expansion announcement in late October.
The 10 new members are (alphabetically):
• Car finance and loan provider Blue Motor Finance
• Credit building service for renters Canopy
• Community and knowledge hub Open Banking Excellence
• Debt advice and management provider PayPlan
• Pensions aggregator Penny
• Open banking network Plaid
• Debt Advice charity StepChange
• Open banking platform Tink
• Policy and regulatory network The Financial Inclusion Alliance
• Credit building service Wollit
Founded by Zopa Bank and ClearScore, the pledge aims to drive 10 million consumer actions by 2025 that build up the financial resilience of UK consumers. It is achieving this by connecting people to platforms that make savings work harder, improve credit scores, consolidate debt, and lower utility bills and household outgoing costs.
Members agree to clearly define, measure and quantify actions that contribute to the campaign goal of 10 million actions on a monthly basis. To date more than one million actions have been reported from all members combined, with 530,000 already publicly displayed on the pledge2025.org website.
Alongside reporting members, the pledge has opened three new membership categories as it prepares for further growth in 2023: Registered charities with subject-matter expertise provide knowledge and insight on financial resilience; Industry enablers facilitate introductions to their ecosystems and accelerate pledge adoption; and External supporters & allies with product offerings adjacent to, but separate from, those of the pledge raise brand awareness beyond its core ecosystem and link it to other relevant industry discussions.
Jaidev Janardana, CEO at Zopa Bank said: “Financial concerns are impacting more people than ever due to inflation and increasing interest rates, Recent FCA data from October showed that one in four adults are in financial trouble or at the brink of difficulty, while ONS data from the same month found almost half of adults who pay energy bills and 30% paying rent or mortgages say these are difficult to afford.
“Launching the pledge was a natural step for us, as the ethos of driving better financial outcomes for customers has always been in our DNA, but it has been fantastic to see so many fintechs and allies embrace it too. As we get ready to roll out our first set of 2023 consumer partnerships, I actively encourage members of the UK fintech ecosystem to help UK consumers weather this financial shock by joining the pledge.”
Following a successful period of onboarding and initial reporting, the pledge will continue to welcome new members but will gradually focus its attention on measuring the impact of its consumer actions, rolling out a multi-year consumer brand partnership to reach consumers where they already are.