Nationwide, a UK-based building society, announced on Wednesday the launch of its new £50 million fintech venture fund to support its future technology strategy. The company reported it is prioritizing new partnerships that deliver benefits to members over profit alone, as it challenges startups to deliver technology that makes a difference to its fifteen million members.
While sharing more details about the venture fund, Tony Prestedge, Nationwide Building Society’s Deputy CEO, stated:
“The financial services industry has changed dramatically over the last ten years, and continues to evolve at pace as customer experiences are being transformed by innovative organisations and the rise of disruptive technology. 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.”
Nationwide also revealed that its investments will be focused around seven main themes which are linked to the Society’s core purpose:
- House and home: Looking at all aspects of how people live their lives in and out of the home
- Personal data and identity: Exploring secure verification, validation, and storage of data
- Financial wellness: Driving financial inclusion and wellbeing now and into the future
- Communities and society: People coming together to achieve more than they could as individuals
- Banking as a platform: Exploring the changing role of financial services as consumers evolve
- Operational efficiency: Promoting efficiency and sustainability by investing members money wisely
- New segments: Exploring other areas where we can bring the benefit of mutuality
Emma Huntington, who leads Innovation and Venturing at Nationwide Building Society, then added:
“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.”