KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

Moneyhub has supported the launch of Paragon Bank’s first Open Banking-powered Cash ISA through the Spring savings app. The new product expands Spring’s range after the app passed £1 billion in customer deposits.

Spring, a savings app launched by Paragon Bank about a year ago, uses Moneyhub’s technology to let customers move money directly from their current accounts into the new Cash ISA. The setup is designed to help users automate tax-free savings contributions from accounts held with other banks.

The move adds an ISA to a digital savings service that has so far focused on helping customers shift surplus cash from everyday accounts. Users can view external current account balances within the app and transfer funds based on what they can afford at the time, rather than relying on manual transfers or standing orders.

The launch reflects customer demand for an ISA within the Spring app and forms part of Paragon’s broader digital strategy as it builds out app-based savings services.

Research cited by the businesses points to a large pool of cash sitting in low- or no-interest current accounts across the UK. An estimated 6.4 million current account holders keep £10,000 or more in such accounts, representing a total of £227 billion.

That backdrop has helped shape Spring’s proposition, which centres on giving savers a clearer view of their day-to-day finances while making it easier to move money into savings. Most deposits into the app have been initiated through Moneyhub’s payment technology, with daily volumes doubling month on month, according to the companies.

Digital savings

The arrangement shows how Open Banking tools are being used beyond budgeting and account aggregation, particularly in deposits and savings. For banks, the model offers a way to reduce friction when moving money from a customer’s primary current account into a savings product without requiring card payments, manual bank transfers, or pre-set standing orders.

Moneyhub provides data and payment infrastructure to financial institutions, including banks, pension providers, wealth managers and insurers. In this case, its platform supports account connectivity and payment initiation for Spring customers to open and fund the new Cash ISA.

Guy Simmonds, Head of Digital Proposition at Paragon Bank, described the partnership as central to the app’s development.

“Our partnership with Moneyhub has been integral to the launch and development of Spring. Spring is a key part of our wider digitalisation strategy at Paragon, helping us reimagine the savings experience for customers. The newly launched Cash ISA is a product our customers have been asking for, and being able to offer it through Spring’s familiar, trusted digital experience is a significant moment for the app and for our broader digital journey,” Simmonds said.

Growth focus

The savings app has become an important digital channel for Paragon as it seeks to broaden its channels for gathering retail deposits. Passing £1 billion in deposits in roughly its first year gives the bank a larger base from which to add products such as ISAs and test how customers respond to more integrated savings tools.

For Moneyhub, the launch provides another example of a financial institution using its services in a customer-facing retail product. The company positions its offering around transaction data, analytics, decisioning, and payment initiation, with a focus on helping firms integrate account information with actions such as moving money.

Dan Scholey, CPO at Moneyhub, said the Spring launch shows how those services can be applied to savings.

“We provide the scalable data and intelligence infrastructure that allows financial institutions to easily drop in extra, high-value services as their customers’ needs evolve. Most traditional savings products still rely on manual intervention, but by embedding Moneyhub’s data and payments platform, Spring has made saving effortless and automated. Helping Spring surpass £1 billion in deposits shows how our data-driven platform turns compliance and integration into a powerful engine for commercial growth,” Scholey said.

UK fashion retailer, Holland Cooper, is asking Oxfordshire corgi owners if there pooch would be in an advert for the high-end brand.

Casting manager, Gill Raddings, said in an Oxfordshire Facebook group: “I am looking for up to 3 Corgi’s for a stills shoot for the clothing brand Holland Cooper.

“The shoot will be at Jade’s (very nice) home just outside Cheltenham next Tuesday July 21st.

“The dog/s will just be on leads standing with the models.

“This will obviously be paid and they are always nice fun days on their shoots with excellent catering!

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Jade Holland Cooper attending day two of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse (Image: Andrew Matthews)

“It’s usually an 9am start and the finish around 4 / 5 o’clock.

“Please let me know if you would be interested in joining us for a fun day!

In 2008, Jade Cooper founded the fashion label Holland Cooper.

Holland Cooper launched her label by personally selling tweed garments from a horse trailer at equestrian and country events, travelling to more than 30 shows per year.

She started by having an outworker employed by her mother make 30 tweed miniskirts, with leather and suede additions, which she found in her mother’s old design studio in a farm outbuilding, and sold them all from a stall at Badminton Horse Trials.

Holland Cooper has since grown into a fashion house with an annual turnover of around £60 million and year-on-year growth of 50 percent. The brand offers more than 2,000 products and operates a 70,000-square-foot headquarters in the Cotswolds.

JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Gamma is backing Rebel Telecom as the startup heads to Parliament, amid a wider debate in Britain over children’s online safety.

Rebel Telecom has built a mobile offer for children that combines a smartphone, its own operating system, a parent app and a SIM service linked to funding for schools and youth programmes. Gamma is supporting the business through its mobile virtual network operator platform.

Discussion in Westminster has intensified as policymakers consider tighter online rules for children, including proposals to limit social media access for under-16s. Ofcom figures cited by the companies show that 94% of secondary school-aged children now own a mobile phone, with ownership rising as pupils move from primary to secondary school.

Rather than relying only on restrictions added to standard devices, Rebel Telecom says it has designed its system specifically for children. Its operating system removes unrestricted web browsing and social media by design, while allowing parents to introduce features gradually as a child gets older.

Schools can also place devices into a restricted mode during the school day, the company says, in an effort to support existing school policies on mobile phone use.

Parliament focus

The parliamentary briefing has brought together MPs, peers, educators and technology executives to discuss the role innovation can play in children’s digital wellbeing. For Gamma, backing Rebel Telecom is a bet on a startup trying to address a politically sensitive issue through product design and a social funding model.

The telecom model also includes a give-back mechanism. Rebel Telecom says every SIM plan for families, individuals or businesses allows customers to direct a share of their monthly spending to a school, university, college or the YESS Foundation.

Mike Mills, Managing Director of Service Providers at Gamma, explained why the company chose to support the venture.

“At Gamma, we’ve always believed technology should improve lives. When we first met Munur and the Rebel Telecom team, it was clear this wasn’t simply another mobile proposition. It was an opportunity to use connectivity as a force for good. Supporting organisations with bold ideas is part of who we are, but what really resonated was the purpose behind Rebel Telecom. Their ambition to help children develop healthier relationships with technology, while giving back to schools and communities, aligns closely with our own values. We’re proud that our MVNO platform has helped turn that vision into reality, and we’re equally proud to see that conversation now taking place in Parliament,” said Mike Mills, Managing Director of Service Providers at Gamma.

Child-first model

Rebel Telecom argues that devices for children should be built differently from mainstream smartphones. Its model is based on the view that children should not be handed adult devices and left to adapt to them.

Munur Shah, Co-founder of Rebel Telecom, said: “This has never been about creating another mobile network. It’s about creating an intentional digital ecosystem that educates and protects children, empowers parents, supports healthy development and gives back to the communities raising the next generation. We believe technology should safeguard children. That means designing technology for children, not handing them adult devices and expecting them to adapt. Healthier digital lives begin with education and design.”

Shah linked the parliamentary invitation to a broader policy shift.

“The invitation to Parliament reflects something much bigger than Rebel Telecom. It shows there is growing recognition that industry has an important role to play alongside parents, educators and government in shaping healthier digital lives for young people. Gamma believed in our vision from an early stage and gave us the platform to turn that vision into reality. Without that support, we simply wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Shah.

Gamma is a communications provider with operations across Europe and more than 2,200 employees. The group sells to businesses and public sector organisations, with core markets in the UK and Germany and additional operations in Spain and the Benelux region.

For Rebel Telecom, the parliamentary appearance is an early test of whether a specialist mobile provider can win attention in a sector dominated by larger consumer brands while also influencing the policy debate around young people’s use of smartphones. The company says it is already working with schools across the country.