Barclays invests in Open Banking-based utility switching app Youtility

Youtility, a London-based startup tapping into Open Banking to help people track their household expenses and switch utility suppliers, has raised £4.5 million in a funding round joined by Barclays.

  6 1 comment

Barclays invests in Open Banking-based utility switching app Youtility

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

Barclays was joined by Icap founder Michael Spencer and Ascension Ventures’ Fair By Design Fund, which focuses on firms targeting low-income households.

The free Youtility app taps Open Banking to connect to users' bank accounts and identify home finance providers - such as energy, water, insurance, mobile firms - and how much they cost.

Then, the app monitors the users' finances, flagging any high bills, big future payments and contract end dates.

It also helps people compare providers and make switches in-app, promising complete impartiality and the ability to make a change within two minutes.

The startup plans to use the new funding to make hires and build new product lines.

Co-founders Will Kostoris and Charlie Quigley say: “Since our launch we’ve made big strides towards helping consumers move onto competitive tariffs but there are still millions of people at risk of spending too much on their home finances.

“This funding will allow us to significantly expand our services and ultimately help more people take back control of their home finances as we work to improve consumer engagement by transparently showing them the alternatives that meet their needs.”

Sponsored [On-Demand Webinar] Unifying Card Programmes: The cost-reduction imperative

Comments: (1)

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

This could work! I gave many examples of switching opportunities surfaced by PFM apps in A Killer Feature For PFM On The Eve Of PSD2. In all cases, the "transfer proved to be far more cumbersome than I'd anticipated". I'd envisaged automatic switching of providers / plans as a killer feature for PFM.

If Youtility really works as advertised and actually enables switching of utility providers in the promised two minutes, it has a good thing going and I'm very bullish about the startup's outlook.

[Webinar] PREDICT 2025: The Future of AI in the USFinextra Promoted[Webinar] PREDICT 2025: The Future of AI in the US