The UK’s first dedicated payroll savings platform, Sync Savings, has completed a new round of funding to help accelerate its mission to make regular saving as easy and automatic as spending.
Sync has been backed by a syndicate of leading women from across the UK financial services industry, including FinTech Wales Chair Sarah Williams-Gardener OBE, Angels Invest Wales, Araya Ventures founder Rupa Popat, and Fiona Howarth, CEO and Founder of Octopus Electric Vehicles.
Founded in 2023 by former Monzo executives Joss Tasker and Alex Fox, Sync was created to help bridge the savings gap in the UK. The duo were concerned that the financial system in the UK has become exceptionally good at helping people spend, but far less effective at helping them build accessible savings.
Sync’s payroll savings technology allows employers and payroll providers to make saving part of the normal payday routine. Employees can open and fund a high-interest savings account through their workplace benefits or payroll platform, automatically putting aside an agreed amount each payday without having to set up a standing order or manually transfer money.
Once set up, employees can change their contributions or access their savings, making saving flexible as well as automatic. Sync has already helped thousands of employees save regularly and is growing through partnerships with employers and payroll providers including IRIS Software Group and the NHS. In the past six months, savings deposits via Sync have grown by an average of 75% month-on-month, and users by 60% month-on-month.
The company is also a founding member of the National Coalition for Workplace Savings, which has been established as part of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy to increase the number of employers offering workplace savings schemes and the number of employees who save. The Coalition believes payroll can become a powerful channel for financial wellbeing, just as auto-enrolment made pension saving a routine part of employment, payroll savings can help make building an accessible financial buffer a normal part of payday.
Joss Tasker, Founder and CEO of Sync Savings, said:
“With the advent of instant credit decisioning, buy now, pay later and early wage access it has never been easier to get into debt and yet something as fundamental as opening a regular savings account remains fraught with friction and complexity.
“Sync is changing that. Financial wellbeing starts with savings, that’s why our mission is to help everyone save more, the barriers aren’t the availability of products, but rather the complexity, friction, and apathy to saving. We help people save automatically, little and often through the workplace systems they already use.”
Joss added:
“The savings gap is particularly stark for women, and the barriers aren’t simply about financial literacy or willpower. According to Money.co.uk data, women hold 34% less in savings than men. This disparity also extends into retirement, with the gender pensions gap has reached 19 years, meaning women have to work 19 extra years for pension parity.
“We are so passionate about getting people saving, as we can see the positive impact that putting money away has every day. People who regularly save have 70% lower odds of falling behind with bills than non-savers*. We want to make saving easy; we want to give people access to high-interest cash savings without the complications, offering people a financial buffer before they need one and a route to wealth building over time.
“This investment gives us the opportunity to take what is already working and bring payroll savings to millions more employees across the UK and Europe.”
Sarah Williams-Gardener, Chair of FinTech Wales and an investor in Sync, said:
“Sync is tackling a very real problem: too many people want to save but find it difficult to make saving a consistent part of everyday life.
“Making savings part of the payroll journey is a simple but powerful idea, and one that has the potential to make a meaningful difference to financial resilience and inclusion. Joss and Alex have built a compelling proposition, and I’m delighted to support them as they scale.”
Tom Preene of Angels Invest Wales, said:
“We’re delighted to support this investment into Sync Savings through the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund, backing an experienced syndicate of angel investors led by Sarah Williams-Gardener OBE. Sync has developed an innovative proposition and assembled an exceptionally strong team with a proven track record of building and scaling successful fintech businesses.
“This funding will help the company expand its technology team here in Wales, drawing on talent with an impressive track record in the fintech sector, including individuals who helped establish Monzo in Cardiff. We’re pleased to support Sync’s next phase of growth and help the business realise its ambitions from its Welsh base.”
Fiona Howarth, CEO and Founder of Octopus Electric Vehicles said:
“This is such an exciting business to be a part of as well as being hugely ambitious with their growth targets, Joss and Alex are making a positive impact with their tech.
“What I love about Sync is that the concept is so simple it aims to make savings an automated part of payday, therefore removing any barriers that prevent people from saving. We’ve seen how easily the system has helped people to spend and now Sync is showing how easily people can save.
“I’ve known Joss for a long time and have seen first-hand the passion and enthusiasm she brings to the table. Sync isn’t just a tech company, it’s been developed from a meaningful purpose and I’m delighted to be investing in this stage of its journey.”
Rupa Popat, Founder and Managing Partner, Arāya Ventures, said:
“Financial resilience shouldn’t be a privilege reserved for those who already have savings habits and safety nets. It should be built into the everyday systems people already trust, like payroll.
“Sync is making long-term financial security automatic rather than aspirational, embedding better financial outcomes into the way people already live and work. We believe this has the potential to become an important piece of financial infrastructure, with significant impact at scale. We’re proud to back Joss, Alex and the Sync team as they build the category.”
The latest funding will enable Sync to accelerate its UK growth, expand into European markets and continue developing its technology and financial-services partnerships.
