Every Wednesday, we delve into the latest fintech updates from across the UK. This week brings updates from Investing Reviews, Chetwood Financial, Moneyhub, Payhawk and LendingMetrics.
‘Savings account’ and ‘mortgage help’ searches see a dramatic uptake
Financial reviewing platform Investing Reviews has revealed that searches for ‘savings account’ increased by around 10 times the average in the UK; following its analysis of Google search data.
The analysis of Google Trends data also found that searches for ‘mortgage help’ has increased by 513 per cent since Sunday 25 September. The trend comes immediately after Kwasi Kwarteng‘s mini-budget announcement; followed by a significant downturn in the value of the pound sterling.
The move caused almost 1,000 mortgage deals to be pulled from banks due to rising interest rates. The data shows a significant amount of distress among UK citizens, many of whom will be directly impacted by having to pay higher interest rates on their existing mortgages.
Financial services set for parenting forum collaboration
Wrexham-based digital bank Chetwood Financial has partnered with parenting forum Mumsnet as they plan to launch a range of family-orientated financial services next year.
As part of the collaboration, Chetwood plans to provide the regulation, technology and infrastructure to launch products and services to ease the financial issues faced by parents in the current economic landscape.
Julia McColl, chief product officer at Chetwood Financial said: “We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Mumsnet. Parents face significant financial pressures, whether it’s a dip in income while on maternity leave, the rising cost of childcare, or a sharp uptick in the cost of living.
“We’re working with Mumsnet members to co-create products and tools that work to relieve some of the challenges they face. Chetwood is proud to be working with Mumsnet to make this a reality.”
Open banking simplifies NHS entertainment access
Open data and payments platform Moneyhub has partnered with telecommunications service provider WiFi SPARK in an attempt to simplify access to entertainment for NHS patients.
The move will bring open banking payments as an offering to access vital communications systems; to add to the existing system for patients. The only available options that existed before this partnership were to pay for access using a credit card, telephoning a call centre and paying over the phone or by using a vending machine in the hospital to obtain a code that could be used on the bedside terminal.
Sam Seaton, CEO at Moneyhub said: “We are thrilled to partner with WiFi SPARK by rolling out open banking payments to the healthcare sector. The work WiFi SPARK does is incredibly important for patient happiness, wellbeing and empowerment and we’re delighted to bring the benefits of Open Banking to patients requiring entertainment access.”
Payhawk launches credit card for UK businesses
Spend management platform Payhawk has launched a credit card for businesses to enable its customers a choice between credit and debit cards.
This addition to Payhawk’s offering aims to supply an alternative to traditional credit cards, with one that empowers its customers with the ability to get real-time visibility into company spending along with a number of other benefits.
Hristo Borisov, the CEO and co-founder of Payhawk explained: “As we began serving more UK enterprises, we discovered that many businesses prefer credit over debit cards for cash flow reasons. Until now, many were forced into a decision between smart debit cards like Payhawk, or traditional credit card products that do not benefit from any enterprise tech and might face lower acceptance rate.”
Scottish Building Society appoints Hampshire-based credit agency
Scottish Building Society has appointed credit reference agency LendingMetrics to deliver its credit decision-making platform.
LendingMetrics will provide its Auto Decision Platform (ADP) underwriting solution to support the society’s manual underwriting; a key part of the business.
David Wylie, commercial director of LendingMetrics, commented: “We are delighted that ADP has been chosen as the best solution by Scottish Building Society. They have been a pleasure to work with and we now look forward to delivering to them, complete autonomy over their [decision-making] logic.”
