Nationwide launches £50m fintech fund

The world’s largest building society and Britain’s second-biggest mortgage provider, said it was reacting to technology that was redefining how its 15 million members want to be served and is investing to stay ahead of expectations.

In the last year, Nationwide has grown the number of its active mobile banking members by 44 per cent, with 200 million more logins.

It said the new FinTech fund will be integral to the Society’s future technology strategy.

“While Nationwide doesn’t always shout about its latest innovations, we have a strong track record of delivering real technological advances that actually make an impact to the everyday lives of our 15 million members. These include being the first financial services provider to launch internet banking in the UK, introducing a new core banking platform and unlocking help and advice in branches with the power of Nationwide NOW – our in-branch high definition video link.

“By investing in early stage start-ups, we can be at the forefront of helping develop innovative products and services that will benefit our members both now and in the future, allowing us to deliver our ambitious future technology strategy.”

The new fund is focussed on creating partnerships which help solve societal issues and ultimately improve members’ lives.

The Society is offering more than money to its new FinTech partners.

As part of the investment, Nationwide said it will have a senior member of staff with relevant experience to provide support, guidance and expertise to the start-up. The Society said it sees venturing as a two-way collaboration and it is looking to benefit from new ways of working, innovative thinking and different approaches as its learns from the start-ups it invests in.

The Society’s investments will be focused around seven main themes which are linked to the Society’s core purpose:

Emma Huntington, who leads Innovation and Venturing at Nationwide Building Society, said: “We are delighted to announce that acasa has become the first investment from our new fund. We know more people are living in shared houses for longer and we look forward to working in partnership with acasa to help sharers get more from their money.

“Our focus is on developing partnerships which deliver long term benefits to our members. We’ll work together to make the most of our partnerships through sharing experience, our established networks and by drawing on our complementary skills. This is about more than money, and we are excited to learn from our new partners to ensure we deliver real benefits to our organisation, our members and the start-ups.

“We look forward to announcing further details about our next investments over the coming weeks and months.”