All-in-one money apps Pockit and Monese are teaming up, with plans to roll out Pockit’s Income Advance service to Monese customers.
Through the product launch, Monese is expanding its product suite after it was acquired by Pockit in Q4 2024. Monese and Pockit aim to make it easier for people to access and manage the financial tools that put them in control of their money.
Pockit and Monese’s Income Advance services provide short-term credit with no interest, no hard credit checks and automatic repayment from income, offering a safety net and reducing reliance on high-cost or unregulated lenders.
The launch comes after recent research found that 11 per cent of UK adults are now actively considering turning to a loan shark, a 22 per cent increase since 2022, as the number of providers offering loans to lower-credit-score consumers continues to shrink. Separate Pockit research found that over half of Income Advance proceeds are spent on food shopping, underlining its role in tackling day-to-day financial insecurity and helping customers manage their cash flow throughout the month to cover essential spending.
Eligible Monese customers in the UK will now be able to borrow money, starting at £50, which is then automatically repaid from the next instalment of their regular income – either salaries or social security payments. As with Pockit’s Income Advance service, the consumer lender SteadyPay is underwriting and funding the loan book, helping to ensure that all loans are responsible and affordable.
Tackling unlicensed lending
Strong uptake among a trial cohort of Monese users during an initial two-month testing period demonstrated the scale of unmet demand, with around 22 per cent of approved customers taking out loans. The roll-out to Monese customers follows the successful launch of Income Advance to Pockit users in March 2024. Since then, Pockit has extended over 185,000 short-term loans secured against customers’ monthly income, totalling over £12million in value.
Virraj Jatania, group CEO, Pockit x Monese, commented: “Income Advance was launched to help people juggle the twin terrors of rising costs and the reducing availability of credit. It’s clear that a huge swathe of people, such as gig-economy and shift workers, remain underserved by financial institutions, underlining the need for products like ours to help weather financial shocks and smooth out their monthly cash flow. No one should have to turn to unlicensed or potentially dangerous lenders just to make ends meet, so I’m delighted that we can now offer Income Advance to Monese customers and help them manage their spending month to month.
“The roll-out reflects not only the strength of our combined capabilities, but also the shared commitment to innovation and delivering value for our customers, evidenced by repeat use of the product. We’re incredibly excited about what’s ahead as we continue to evolve.”
