3. Yonder: the credit card rewarding people, not banks

Founders: Tim Chong, Theso Jivajirajah, and Harry Jell
Year founded: 2020
Website: yonder.com

Is this startup ‘the next Monzo’ or ‘the new Uber’? It’s such an oft-repeated question in the startup world that we try now to avoid it if we can. For Yonder, though, which is appearing in the Startups 100 Index for the third time after placing #22 in 2023, the answer could be yes.

As a challenger credit card, Yonder had a tough job ahead to differentiate itself in a market dominated by household names such as American Express. But the firm had an ace up its sleeve; a founding team with extensive knowledge of the consumer credit industry.

The trio had worked together at a large UK fintech, where they identified an area in which innovation felt ignored: rewards. Competitor offerings were largely irrelevant to their audience. Points expired quickly and were hard to redeem due to clunky, outdated apps.

“Credit cards were designed to benefit the bank, not the individual”, says the team. It was a Yonder-shaped gap in the market.

With an in-house team consisting of four engineers and one designer (while banks have teams of hundreds to manage their cards), Tim Chong, Theso Jivajirajah, and Harry Jell built Yonder from scratch. Their mission was to make a customer-centric card that offered lifestyle rewards that people actually wanted to use, rather than a bunch of names for banks to put on their billboards.

Credit cards were designed to benefit the bank, not the individual.

Targeting young professional ‘yuppies’ with disposable income, Yonder allows its members to explore fine dining and drinking hotspots, theatre shows, and online ecommerce sites.

To keep things fresh, Yonder’s partners are predominantly local independents, rather than the usual list of Love2Shop logos. For example, south London wine bar, Peckham Cellars. Overall, Yonder says its members have spent over £3m at rewards partners since 2021.

Let’s be honest, these are mostly trendy London hotspots; a reflection of the team’s HQ and its target market. The firm’s unique approach to credit (it utilises open banking rather than traditional credit checks) makes it a top choice for those born outside of the UK, and London has the largest proportion of migrants among UK regions.

That said, the startup (which is backed by ex-Manchester United centre-back, Rio Ferdinand) launched in the rainy city last April. It flew into Birmingham one month later.

In fact, it’s been a busy year for Yonder. The company hit one of its biggest milestones yet; a £100 million valuation bolstered by an impressive £23.4m funding round announced at the end of September. That builds on Yonder’s Series A in 2023, when it secured £62.5m.

If that wasn’t enough, in June 2024, the company launched its closest offering to American Express yet, Yonder Flights. Customers can use their Yonder points on flights to any destination, with any airline, at any time. And off-the-plane rewards are also en route.

“Our next step is to become much more of a companion on holiday,” says the team, “there’s so much more we want to do for travellers when they arrive at their destination.” Yonder could soon pay for a round of Heinekens in Amsterdam, or a Brat(wurst) Summer in Berlin.

With a fresh take on finance, Yonder’s focus on customer-centric credit has seen it climb to a nine-figure valuation this year. After years of rewarding others, it’s time for it to reap its own reward for years of hard work with a podium finish in this year’s Startups 100 Index.