Pennyworth

Idea

Introduction

Despite 20% of consumers being aspiring affluent and generating close to 80% of retail bank revenue, their financial planning needs are not being met. These 10m adults in the UK, with income or liquid assets of £40k - £150k, are not rich enough for private banking and must make do with impersonal service and poor value from their traditional bank. The segment represents approximately £700b in savings and £100b in consumer credit.*

Pennyworth aims to fill the value and advice gap by bringing financial planning and banking together in one app, using machine learning and open banking to drive better recommendations. Helping you reach your goals faster and more confidently with leading rates and tailored financial strategies.

Based on our competitor research (undertaken in 2022), it is the only product that offers full personal financial management by helping you effortlessly assemble your finances, adopt a plan and confidently execute it.

Pennyworth has completed the UK bank licence pre-application process and the application is now being assessed for authorisation.

Founded by a team of proven bank builders, Pennyworth aims to be a bionic bank for busy people looking to get more from their finances.

*Based on 2020 statistics published by Bank of England

Substantial accomplishments to date

● Regulatory approval: in just 12 months, have completed the UK bank licence pre-application process at zero cost and quicker than many start-up banks.

● MVP product: designed, built, tested goals-based planning technology with 400+ beta testers and launched on App Store and Google Play.

● Traction: with zero marketing expense we've generated an initial following of 1,500+ on social channels and 1,100+ on our banking waitlist.

● Team: built by an experienced team behind Barclays US digital bank, UK's largest digital lender and Nordic's leading credit-card bank.

Monetisation strategy

1. Winning proposition with a moat. Pennyworth is a free-to-use AI-powered guide underpinned by a top-quartile price-promise on borrowing, saving and investment solutions. The positive unit economics generated by a sustainably competitive spread and low (largely variable) operating costs is a model that traditional banks and many neobanks structurally cannot compete with.

2. Strategy to become a unicorn bank without unicorn losses. With bank authorisation, Pennyworth has a path to profitability. We aim to reach break-even in our third year and a reach a unicorn valuation by our fifth year without incurring the large financial losses normally associated with neobanks.

3. International opportunity. Starting in the UK the model is then easily expandable to other markets where the team have experience, notably the United States.

Use of proceeds

The current funding round provides Pennyworth with runway for 12 months in which it will:

● Grow the team from 2 to 5 staff (Tech, UX and Marketing) all ready to join.
● Develop the next set of financial planning features for the app.
● Finalise authorisation as a UK bank (max 12 months).
● Prepare the model for a larger A round.