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§ Private Profile · London, United Kingdom
Pockit is a technology company.
Pockit develops a digital banking app and prepaid card system tailored for the financially underserved. Its platform provides essential services including online shopping, money management, and convenient bill payment, functioning as a comprehensive financial alternative. The company emphasizes accessibility for those inadequately served by traditional banking institutions.
Bharat Kumar Jatania, Virraj Jatania, and Mark Newton-Jones founded Pockit in 2010. Their core insight was the need for a better banking alternative for customers overlooked by high street banks, driving them to create an inclusive financial solution. The founders aimed to bridge this service gap, offering a straightforward tool for daily financial management.
Pockit primarily serves underbanked populations and individuals seeking accessible money management, including students. The company's vision is to provide a robust financial ecosystem, ensuring essential banking services are readily available to everyone. This fosters financial inclusion and empowers users with greater control over their funds.
Pockit has raised $49.4M across 7 funding rounds.
Pockit has raised $49.4M in total across 7 funding rounds.
Pockit is a UK-based fintech company providing prepaid spending cards, current accounts, and financial services like bill payments, international money transfers, income advances, budgeting tools, cashback, and credit building for underserved consumers excluded by traditional banks.[1][2][3] It targets low-income and unbanked individuals, offering quick account setup without credit checks, direct debits, and tools to manage spending and build credit, serving over 800,000 customers and processing $5 billion in transactions.[2][4] In October 2024, Pockit acquired Monese, creating a leading fintech for budgeting and financial control across the UK and Europe with millions of users; both are FCA-regulated.[5]
The company has raised around $50 million, including a $10 million round in 2023 from Puma Private Equity, fueling expansions into buy-now-pay-later, investments, insurance, and savings.[4][6] Headquartered in Cardiff with 51-200 employees (recently aiming for 100), Pockit demonstrates strong growth amid the UK's cost-of-living crisis.[1][4]
Pockit was founded in 2014 by Virraj Jatania in London (later headquartered in Cardiff) to address financial exclusion for the UK's estimated 10 million people overlooked by high-street banks, regardless of income or credit history.[1][2][4] Jatania aimed to simplify money management for low-income, unbanked customers via a mobile-first prepaid card and account that supported online payments and direct debits.[2]
Early traction included rapid customer growth to 500,000 by recent counts, a 2018 credit-building partnership with LOQBOX, and a 2019 report exposing the "Banking Poverty Premium" costing users up to £485 yearly.[2] Challenges like the 2020 Wirecard suspension briefly halted accounts but resolved quickly; the firm secured further funding that November.[2] By 2023, with 800,000+ users, Pockit pivoted toward profitability amid economic pressures.[4]
Pockit's edge lies in its focus on financial inclusion for underserved UK users, with accessible, no-credit-check products built on a scalable mobile app developed with agile cloud tech (Azure) for resilience and speed.[1][3][7]
Pockit rides the fintech inclusion wave, targeting the unbanked/underbanked amid UK's cost-of-living crisis, inflation, and post-pandemic recovery, where traditional banks fail 10M people.[2][4] Its timing aligns with open banking and digital-first shifts, competing with Monzo, Chime, and Bunq by prioritizing low-income niches over mass-market consumers.[3]
Market forces like regulatory support (FCA) and rising demand for pseudo-banking (no-credit-check accounts, advances) favor Pockit, amplified by the 2024 Monese acquisition for European scale.[5] It influences the ecosystem by pioneering tools like credit-building and poverty premium awareness, pushing incumbents toward inclusion while validating mobile fintech for social impact.[2][7]
Pockit is poised to dominate UK/European underserved fintech, leveraging its 3M+ post-Monese customer base, $50M funding, and profitability tweaks to roll out investments, insurance, and savings.[4][5] Trends like AI-driven budgeting, embedded finance, and regulatory pushes for inclusion will accelerate growth, potentially expanding beyond UK amid economic volatility.
As financial exclusion persists, Pockit's evolution from prepaid cards to an all-in-one "financial champion" positions it to reshape access, building on its origin as a simple alternative for the overlooked.[4]
Pockit has raised $49.4M across 7 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.0M Other Equity in August 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2023 | $10M Venture Round | Kelvin Reader | The North East Development Capital Fund | Announced |
| Dec 1, 2020 | $20M Series B | — | Puma Growth Partners, Harold Mechelynck, JON Moulton, SIR Alex Ferguson, Crowdcube, Future Fund | Announced |
| Dec 1, 2017 | $5M Series A | — | Frontline Ventures, Redline Capital, Topps Tiles, Jonathan Goodwin | Announced |
| Apr 25, 2017 | $3.7M Venture Round | — | Colin Harris, Kevin Reynolds, Stuart Middleton | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2016 | $7M Series A | — | Frontline Ventures, Redline Capital, Topps Tiles, Jonathan Goodwin | Announced |
| May 19, 2014 | $1.7M Venture Round | — | Denis Shafranik, IAN Langley, Mark Newton Jones, Simon Barklem, SIR Alex Ferguson | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2012 | $2M Seed | — | Puma Growth Partners, Harold Mechelynck, JON Moulton | Announced |
Pockit has raised $49.4M in total across 7 funding rounds.
Pockit's investors include Kelvin Reader, The North East Development Capital Fund, Puma Growth Partners, Harold Mechelynck, Jon Moulton, Sir Alex Ferguson, Crowdcube, Future Fund, Frontline Ventures, Redline Capital, Topps Tiles, Jonathan Goodwin.