Beta test period, 10,000 users ~ has already refinanced millions of pounds of borrowings~ 40,00 people since joined Updrafts waitlist ~ A typical Updraft user has been able to reduce their borrowing charges by up to 50%.
Quilam Capital, specialist investment firm, support Updraft to boost financial wellness and tackle consumer borrowing
Updraft, is an app designed to tackle escalating consumer borrowing by helping its member’s avoid unnecessary credit card and overdraft charges. With investment from Quilam Capital and the UK Government’s Future Fund, Updraft has secured £16m in funding.
Available now via the Apple App Store, Updraft was founded by financial services executive Aseem Munshi, former Head of Cards and Unsecured Lending for HSBC, UK. With over 15 years’ of experience in banking, Munshi realised there was a problem that could only be solved from the outside – that consumers drift into borrowing more and more each month without noticing. Banks seldom intervene, reliant as they are on those charges to pay for free banking for everyone else. These consumers will pay over £10b in fees and interests for overdraft and credit cards in 2020 alone.
Confirming Quilam Capital’s investment, Director Sarah Watts
“Over the years we’ve seen innovators making use of open banking, shed light on financial health and provide credit, however Updraft provides a truly unique offering across all of these aspects with a market leading solution to give customers the fairly priced credit they deserve. We’re delighted to invest in Updraft and support the business on their mission to give consumers the tools to save and reach their life goals faster.”
Updraft CEO Aseem Munshi
We are thrilled by this vote of confidence from a respected institution like Quilam. This funding gives us the fire power to take on the UK’s spiralling consumer borrowing – and we are acutely aware how much help young professionals need right now.
Updraft elegantly disrupts this process by providing consumers with automated monitoring of credit cards, overdrafts, buy-now-pay-later schemes and credit scores using Open-banking and credit report data. The AI algorithm then automatically builds a 360-degree picture of spending and borrowing and provides a series of interventions designed to lift the consumer back into the black. Where expensive borrowing is detected, Updraft alerts the consumer and offers a lower cost alternative.