Fintech Startups: Budgeting Apps

Fintech startups have often graced the loftier positions in the Startups 100.

With bold, disruptive ideas, global potential, and dizzying revenue figures, it’s not hard to see why. They tick all the boxes we look for when selecting businesses for our definitive annual ranking of the best British small businesses.

And although the fintech boom has been underway for a while, this year’s superb crop of fintech companies has inspired us to identify ‘fintech startups’ as one of the eight key trends for the Startups 100 2019.

Alongside innovative recruitment platforms and AI startups boasting futuristic tech, the fintech startups on the list paint a rosy picture of the UK as one of the world’s premium tech hotspots.

The rise of the fintech startup

A global financial sector that struggled to regain consumer trust after the crisis of the last decade was ripe for disruption. And startups did just that, with a wave of innovative products and services that put the power back into the hands of the consumer.

Business banking, loans, payments, wealth management: all have been disrupted in the last few years by innovative individuals and businesses that saw something was broken and decided to do something about it. And the UK is leading the way…

The UK has long been known as one of the world’s financial capitals. And now it’s one of the world’s fintech capitals. According to the government’s 2019 UK FinTech State of the Nation report, there are more than 1,600 fintech firms in the country, employing 76,500 people.

More than $3.3bn of investments was ploughed into the UK fintech sector in 2018, while the fintech adoption rate (42%) is significantly higher than the global average (33%). This amounts to 20 million Brits using banking apps.

With emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI, and even drones pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and a growing raft of support and finance, we’re not even close to peak fintech. Expect to see many more fintech companies topping the Startups 100 in years to come.

But for now, we bring you three of 2019’s brightest stars…

Meet the fintech companies firing up the startups scene

Revolut

Founded in 2015, Revolut is a digital bank that allows its customers to transfer money abroad in 29 currencies with the interbank exchange rate.

It takes mere minutes to set up an account directly from your phone, with built in budgeting and instant spend notifications giving you full visibility of your finances.

More than four million customers have already created an account with Revolut. And it’s facilitated more than 350 million transactions at a total value of over £40bn.

With current accounts for businesses and customers, unique products and services – including cryptocurrency transfer and insurance purchasing – and enhanced security features, Revolut has its finger on the pulse of what consumers demand from a modern, transparent banking service.

That’s why our judges thought it deserved the highly coveted top spot in this year’s Startups 100. An honour that it now shares with the likes of renewable energy provider Bulb, and mattress disruptor eve Sleep.

Dozens

In an increasingly competitive market, you’d better have a game-changing product if you’re going to launch a new challenger bank.

And that’s just what Dozens is – a gamechanger.

Founded last year, Dozens is the digital bank committed to helping its customers grow and save, with new financial products designed to “maximise your money’s potential”.

Smart budgeting determines how much you can spend in any given period, while auto saving saves on your behalf by round up transactions and putting aside the change. You can even win monthly cash prizes based on actions you take in the app.

And don’t worry: your savings are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

Dozens also offers 5% per annum fixed interest bonds, so you can get higher returns on your investment. The minimum amount is £100, there’s not lock-in, and interest is paid monthly.

Soldo

Keeping track of employee spend across your company can be a nightmare.

Soldo is the company that not only allows you to keep track of, but to actually control how and when money is spent.

It does this by enabling you to provide your team with prepaid cards that are restricted by your budget and rules. And data or receipts from transactions are captured and can be tracked and reviewed in your accounting system – it integrates with Xero,Quickbooks, Sage, Netsuite, and SAP.

Soldo is trusted by 40,000 businesses of all sizes. Small businesses (0-99 employees) are able to have up to 30 cards, with no hidden transaction or deposit fees, and no minimum number of cards or deposits.

Next Steps

Check out our guide if you’re interested in opening a business bank account, or take a sneak peak at our list of the hottest new challenger banks on the market today.