ikigai launches in the UK to combine digital, wealth banking

By Sunniva Kolostyak

ikigai, a new challenger bank on the UK market, has launched its services and is hoping to attract young and affluent users by combining digital banking and wealth management.

ikigai is looking to compete with premium banks, empowering its clients to spend well, save well and invest well. Offering all the personal financial tools now expected of a digital bank, ikigai also provides wealth management features that allow clients to invest in fully-managed portfolios of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), built and managed using asset allocation guidance from BlackRock.

Commenting on the launch, Maurizio Kaiser, co-founder of ikigai, explained that when it comes to wealth, incumbents and challengers keep chasing the same audience with their same one-size-fits-all offerings, meaning the young and affluent consumer group is being overlooked.

“That’s why we’ve built ikigai. Our clients are people focused on the purpose of wealth, not its mindless accumulation. They associate self-care and financial wellbeing with success and self-confidence. And they’re entering their prime earning and spending years, but the tools available right now simply don’t meet their increasingly complex financial needs. They’re underserviced and underestimated, but ikigai is here to change that,” Kaiser said.

The FinTech has built its platform using providers Railsbank and WealthKernel. Through a flat subscription model, its customers get access to a mobile app that separates money into accounts for spending, saving and investing through the Everyday, Nest, and Wealth features – as well as a human relationship manager.

The fully managed, globally diversified investment portfolios are built and managed by ikigai in collaboration with BlackRock.

Also commenting, Edgar de Picciotto, co-founder of ikigai, added: “We are ruthlessly client-centric. This comes through at every touchpoint – not least our holistic approach to personal finance and our flat-fee pricing model.

“The fact is that the way people feel about money has changed – it’s not just about spending power, but living power. And that presents a historic opportunity.”

Previously, ikigai raised £2 million from private and angel investors in a pre-seed round completed in 2020.