Pockit, a startup that focuses on helping the four million ‘financially excluded’ people in the UK, has hit 100,000 users since it began trading in 2014.
The startup has so far raised £6m with investments coming from the founder and CEO’s, Virraj Jatania, family, Mothercare CEO Mark Newton-Jones, and former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Reaching 100k customers is a tipping-point moment for Pockit, as not only is it the first time any of the UK’s neo-banks have reached such a milestone, but it also proves that we’re successfully solving a longstanding and deep-rooted problem,” said Jatania.
The app charges 99p, and money received from salaries or cash can be paid in by bank transfer or at PayPoint locations. The app allows users to pay their bills and transfer money to other accounts. Account-holders receive a Mastercard, which can be used to withdraw cash – although each transaction will cost 99p.
By the end of the year, its customers will also be able to set up Direct Debits and send remittances abroad.
The startup also published a new study that it commissioned, which found that over a quarter of people (27%) find their bank “impossible to deal with”, while 7% say there aren’t any banks that will offer them a current account – a figure that rises to 13 and 15 % respectively with regard to personal loans and credit cards.
Seven out of ten respondents (69%) also admitted their finances are “in a mess”, with 55% of those questioned saying they don’t keep track of their outgoings. As such, over half of Britons (53%) worry about their finances in the middle of the night and 26 per cent claim their personal relationships have suffered as a direct result of the mess they’re in.
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