New Open Banking platform Money Squirrel has launched in the UK.

Available across the UK, the platform aims to help businesses manage their finances and cash flow by depositing money into savings accounts, ensuring they are ready for future obligations and earning interest on unused balances.

The FinTech leverages Open Banking technology and offers a range of services including automation of savings for future payments, automatic VAT calculation, allocation of funds and the ability to earn interest rates on funds earmarked for future spending.

“As a founder, I experienced first-hand the frustrations of managing cash flow, spending countless hours calculating VAT and budgeting for future expenses,” said founder and chief executive of Money Squirrel Andreea Daly. “I created Money Squirrel to take that worry off the table, freeing founders to focus on growing their businesses.”

Money Squirrel is championed by the SHIFT Open Finance Community, a community of over 370 FinTech leaders and founders. Established in January 2022 and predominantly UK based, the community shares the commitment to progressing the Open Finance agenda through active collaboration.

Kyle Masterson, head of SHIFT and co-founder of Ignite, an incubator programme that aims to provide financial support, financial services expertise, and industry, praised the venture: “Andreea’s vision for Money Squirrel perfectly aligns with SHIFT’s mission to move finance forward. This platform has the potential to empower millions of businesses to take charge of their finances with confidence.”

The development of Open Banking platforms and solutions is on the rise in the UK, with current platforms offering solutions for cash management and online payments currently including GoCardless, Plaid, Tink and Bud.

At the end of July, Open Banking Limited (OBL) announced that over 10 million consumers and small businesses are using Open Banking technology in the UK.

The implementation agency estimates that the Open Banking ecosystem is already worth over £4 billion to the UK economy, which it says has attracted investment and facilitated the creation of almost 5000 skilled digital jobs across the country.

OBL said that the growth of Open Banking, which first launched in 2018, has been driven by competition, suggesting that when one company focuses on rolling out the model their direct rivals tend to follow suit.

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