Loyalize, a white label engagement platform for retailers, revolutionizes how payments and loyalty work together since 2019. The solution allows customers to connect their cards or bank accounts to a loyalty program, without having to use an old-school plastic loyalty card every time to get their rewards. This results in a frictionless payment experience, and gives retailers an integrated overview of customer transaction and engagement data. Loyalize plans to further extend its platform with new features, and closing the pre-seed round with £250k raised will definitely help to achieve this goal. What is more, a larger seed round will most probably take place later this year.

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More affordable credit is coming to the UK thanks to the combined power of open banking and artificial intelligence. Having raised a staggering £32M in the latest round, the London-based lending startup plans to grow the team and roll out new services to address the needs of British residents that don’t have access to affordable loans, for example because of the lack of credit history. Fintern CEO Gerald Chappell explained that there are about 15 million people with such problems in the UK, adding that “often the consumers hardest hit are those who have had historical blips in their credit records or, for example, those people who are new to credit or have moved countries.” The secured equity and debt funding comes from several FinTech entrepreneurs and business angels, as well as the Varengold Bank.

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This British startup says it wants to replace financial advisers with a personal finance management application that “grows your money on autopilot”. The idea behind “Skyscanner for finance” is simple: users need instant access to the best savings and investment products on the market, with the possibility to switch between them with only a few clicks. Lumio delivers exactly that together with a personalised experience and automatic features. With the recent £1.1 million raised from business angels and crowd investors, Lumio is closer than ever to the goal of revolutionising how people manage their finances. The funds will help the team behind Lumio achieve a product-market fit, boost personalisation features, and expand internationally.

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We weren’t joking when we said that last week was good for British FinTech! There couldn’t be a better proof than yet another closed funding round. This time it’s loyalBe, a loyalty app powered by open banking. Similarly to the Loyalize’s solution mentioned above, loyalBe app allows users to earn loyalty rewards automatically, by simply using their bank card. However, this startup plans to target mostly independent, local merchants in Ireland, to help them increase the loyalty of their customers and attribute customer spending accurately, with no need of integrating with PoS solutions or installing extra equipment.

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Zilch, another UK FinTech, apparently benefits from the BNPL trend. The company not only grew its headcount to 80 in 2020, but also is approaching the impressive number of 500,000 users. The partnerships with Credit Kudos and Monavate are blooming and significantly boost the brand authority. This, obviously, has drawn the attention of numerous investors. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the startup hit a valuation of $500 million after closing a $80 million series B round backed by Gauss Ventures and M&F Fund. The cash will fuel Zilch’s growth in the UK and the upcoming launch in the USA.

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We will wrap up this week’s news review with another intriguing update from the United Kingdom. During the opening keynote at the Innovate Finance Global Summit & UK FinTech Week, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak made some interesting announcements, including the creation of a special taskforce led by HM Treasury and Bank of England that will explore the possibility of launching a central bank digital currency. Moreover, a new infrastructure sandbox will be launched for companies working with distributed ledgers. Additionally, a visa system reformation for skilled professionals is coming, as well as the government’s response to the Kalifa Review.

Read more about the conclusions from the Kalifa Review