Percent users link their card to the app, choose the cause they care about most and when they spend using the card registered to the app at one of the partner retailers a percentage of the bill is donated. The retailers signed up to Percent’s app are already gaining more custom from people who are motivated to raise funding for the good causes they care about most, while the causes can raise more money through a new channel. Percent has seen great success in local communities where local people can support local causes by choosing to spend more with local retailers as well as more established brands.
The Percent app, which has an initial focus on students and young people, is being rolled out in cities across the UK and has already signed up over 1,000 partner brands, including many of the high street’s biggest names such as Byron, Zizzi’s and Franco Manca.
By the end of 2020 Percent aims to be available in every major city in the UK and is currently available in the following cities:
- Bath
- Bristol
- Brighton
- Cambridge
- Canterbury
- Durham
- Edinburgh
- Exeter
- Leeds
- London
- Nottingham
- Manchester
- Oxford
Percent was founded in 2017 and, following two years of cutting-edge technology development, began rolling out the Percent app in 2019. It now has tens of thousands of users and plans to expand internationally over the next 18 months.
Tony Prestedge, Deputy Chief Executive at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Nationwide is committed to supporting local charities and community projects right across the UK. For more than two decades we have given at least one percent of our pre-tax profits to good causes. As a member owned organisation, we are always looking for ways that our 15 million members can help direct funds to causes that they care about and support their local communities.”
“Percent does just that, using the latest technology to raise funds in a completely frictionless way as directed by consumers. We look forward to working with and learning from the great team at Percent as they roll out this innovative service out across the UK.”
Henry Ludlam, CEO and co-founder of Percent, said: “We are excited to partner with Nationwide to accelerate our mission of building good into every part of our lives while making sure it’s win-win for everyone involved. We love the building society model; although it’s a model that has been around for hundreds of years, it couldn’t be more relevant today as we see so many major corporations totally detached from the people and communities they are supposed to serve”.
The investment in Percent by Britain’s biggest building society is the latest initiative from a £50 million Venturing Fund designed to create partnerships in which the Society and start-ups share knowledge and expertise. The Venturing Fund enables Nationwide to partner with early stage start-ups developing innovative products and services that could provide real benefits for the Society’s members in the future.
The Venturing Fund supports the Society’s recently announced multi-billion pound tech investment, which is designed to put the Society at the forefront of digital innovation. Technology is redefining how members want to be served and the Society is investing to stay ahead of expectations. The Society is investing a total of £4.1 billion in technology over the next five years.
