Tandem Bank buys fintech app Pariti
Digital bank Tandem has bought money management app Pariti in a bid to expand the capabilities of its own offering.
The deal, paid with a mix of cash and equity, means Pariti’s chief executive and chief technology officer, Matthew Ford and Peter Townsend, will join Tandem to help in the bank’s app development.
The purchase could add another 95,000 current users of the Pariti app to Tandem’s customer base, while also adding more development experience.
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The move comes amid a shake-up of the retail banking world, as open banking regulation forces big lenders to share customer data, with permission from the customers, with other apps.
The regulation, which came into force at the start of the year, was put in place with the aim of prompting increased competition, and fired the starting gun on a race to gain customers among digital-only challenger banks and fintech firms such as Monzo, Starling and Revolut as well as the incumbents, which are also investing heavily in their customer-facing technology.
Tandem’s business model currently involves bringing every bank account owned by a customer into one place, with the potential to then cross-sell other products, such as utility bills or other financial services.
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The Pariti acquisition will add to the app’s functionality for people planning their finances, with the aim for real-time data insights into spending. The Pariti app will cease to function once it has been rolled into Tandem.
Prior to Pariti Ford and Townsend worked together at Ontrees, a personal finance app which was bought by Moneysupermarket.
Tandem boss Ricky Knox said: “We’re thrilled to have the team from Pariti on board. Both Matthew and Peter are incredibly talented guys who will be able to contribute to our banking app from day one.”
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