Former Virgin Money boss Jayne-Anne Gadhia is reportedly looking to raise millions to fund a new FinTech startup called Snoop that would use Open Banking data to save customers money on their household bills.

According to Sky News, Gadhia, who left Virgin Money after it was acquired by CYBG last year, is seeking investors for a £10 million initial raise to get the startup off the ground.

According to sources who spoke to Sky News, she is pitching Snoop as a new entrant to the price comparison market, currently led by the likes of MoneySupermarket and GoCompare.

The firm would make use of sophisticated financial data sharing and spending habits facilitated by Open Banking to explore automated switching to better deals on household bills including insurance, energy, mortgage and media services.

Gadhia is reported to have told investors that Snoop could save customers more than £1,400 a year by cutting down on the so called ‘loyalty penalty’ which the Competition and Markets Authority estimated last year is costing consumers more than £4 billion annually, as firms offer new customers better deals than existing ones.

The service would not be a bank, meaning there would not be a risk of conflict with CYBG bank, which Gadhia is currently and advisor for, according to insiders.

Gadhia was appointed a member of the Bank of England’s financial policy committee last year and is a non-executive director of Stagecoach.

She declined a request from Sky News to comment on the proposed startup, but told the broadcaster “I learned from Richard Branson that there's nothing more exciting than setting up a new business”.

Gadhia thanked Virgin founder Richard Branson on Twitter after he responded to the news of the venture with the message:"Wonderful to see @gadhiaj moving into an exciting new industry. Once a part of the Virgin family, always a part of the #VirginFamily."

It is not clear whether Gadhia has approached Branson to invest in Snoop.

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