Nationwide is pumping £3million into a competition to encourage FinTech startups to develop Open Banking apps for consumers facing financial challenges.

Launching today, the Open Banking for Good (OB4G) challenge is a government-backed scheme aimed at using Open Banking technology and financial data sharing between financial services companies to develop solutions for the one in four financially squeezed households in the UK - equivalent to 12.7 million people.

The £3million funding will be injected into firms developing apps that help with debt advice, gig economy, savings and budgeting.

The building society’s scheme establishes partnerships between established fintechs and start-ups with debt and money charities including Money Advice Trust and Nesta, the innovation foundation.

Winners of the challenge could receive investment and guidance from Nationwide and partners including Accenture and Doteveryone and will look to scale up the ideas and facilitate their launch, potentially to the Building Society’s 15 million members or to the wider market.

Joe Garner, chief executive, of Nationwide, said: “We believe Open Banking presents a huge opportunity to help everybody with their money - not just the affluent or technically literate.

“We’re looking for innovators to come forward with ideas to help people living on a financial knife edge - with little by way of savings or relying heavily on credit. If entrepreneurs, innovators, charities and financial services work together, we could make a huge positive impact - and that’s what this is all about.”

Last month Nationwide announced its second investment as part of a £50 million Venturing Fund designed to create long-term FinTech partnerships. The building society invested in Hazy, an online platform that helps businesses share data responsibly by using artificial intelligence.

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