Funding Options selected for Nesta Open Up Challenge

19 July 2017

A few months ago, the innovation organisation Nesta launched the Open Up Challenge, a £5 million prize designed to encourage fintech firms to explore Open Banking APIs. This week, Nesta announced that Funding Options is one of 20 firms chosen by Nesta to participate. Funding Options founder and CEO Conrad Ford comments:

“Even the most technology-driven lenders we work with are forced to manually pore over scans of bank statements to make loan decisions. Open Banking will change all that, enabling innovative lenders to carry out instant online customer verification, and to make realtime loan decisions based on rich new bank account data.”

“Farsighted regulators have given the UK a clear head start, so it's incredibly exciting that the Open Up Challenge will represent the very first steps in transforming banking around the world.”

“I'm very proud that Funding Options has been chosen to be part of this next wave of innovation in UK fintech, and the potential of Open Banking is hugely exciting.”

You can hear more of Conrad's thoughts on Open Banking by watching his recent interview at Salesforce World Tour London.

Find out more about Open Banking and Nesta's Challenge Prize in Wired magazine.