Sync Savings Secures New Funding to Tackle UK Savings Gap via Payroll Tech

UK payroll savings platform Sync Savings has secured a new funding round backed by a syndicate of prominent female leaders from across the financial services industry. For fintech professionals, this signifies a strategic shift toward embedding financial resilience directly into the payroll cycle, aiming to replicate the success of pension auto-enrolment for accessible, short-term savings.

What was announced

Sync Savings, founded in 2023 by former Monzo executives Joss Tasker and Alex Fox, has completed a funding round to accelerate its objective of making regular saving as automatic as consumer spending. The investment was led by a syndicate including Sarah Williams-Gardener OBE, Chair of FinTech Wales; Rupa Popat, Founder of Arāya Ventures; and Fiona Howarth, CEO and Founder of Octopus Electric Vehicles. The round also saw participation from Angels Invest Wales via the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund.

The platform provides technology that allows employers and payroll providers to integrate high-interest savings accounts into the standard payday routine. Employees can open and fund these accounts through existing workplace benefits or payroll systems, setting an automated contribution that is deducted each payday. This removes the need for manual transfers or the setup of separate standing orders. Users maintain flexibility to change contribution levels or access their funds as needed.

The company has reported rapid adoption over the last six months, with savings deposits growing by an average of 75% month-on-month and user numbers increasing by 60% month-on-month. Sync Savings currently operates through partnerships with major organizations, including the NHS and IRIS Software Group. Additionally, the company is a founding member of the National Coalition for Workplace Savings, an initiative established under the UK Government's Financial Inclusion Strategy to encourage employers to offer workplace savings schemes as a standard employee benefit.

"With the advent of instant credit decisioning, buy now, pay later and early wage access it has never been easier to get into debt and yet something as fundamental as opening a regular savings account remains fraught with friction and complexity."

Joss Tasker, Founder and CEO of Sync Savings.

The companies involved

Sync Savings is a Welsh fintech startup established by a leadership team with significant experience in scaling UK neobanks. Founders Joss Tasker and Alex Fox previously held executive roles at Monzo, and the company continues to recruit from the talent pool in Cardiff that helped establish Monzo’s presence in Wales. The business positions its technology as a critical piece of financial infrastructure designed to bridge the UK's savings gap.

Supporting the round is Angels Invest Wales, the angel investment arm of the Development Bank of Wales. They provide equity through the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund, specifically backing experienced syndicates. Arāya Ventures, another participant, is an investment firm led by Founder & Managing Partner Rupa Popat that focuses on early-stage ventures with high social impact. FinTech Wales, represented by its Chair Sarah Williams-Gardener OBE, is the independent membership association for the fintech and financial services industry in Wales. The organization acts as a champion for the regional ecosystem, which has seen significant growth in recent years through the development of specialized software and financial inclusion tools.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has followed the development of the Welsh fintech ecosystem and Sync Savings' specific milestones closely. The company was recently recognized for its technical contributions to the payroll sector, as seen when Sync Savings Shortlisted for Software Innovation at 2026 CIPP Annual Excellence Awards. We also covered their practical application in the hospitality sector through a partnership with a tipping platform, detailed in TiPJAR and Sync Savings Help Hospitality Workers Save Hundreds of Thousands Directly from Tips. Additionally, the broader growth of the regional industry was highlighted when Vodafone Business Joins FinTech Wales to Accelerate Digital Growth and Innovation, a move that further solidified the network supporting startups like Sync.

What this means

This announcement marks a pivot in the fintech narrative from "frictionless spending" to "frictionless resilience." For years, the industry has optimized for credit access through Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and early wage access, often at the expense of consumer balance sheets. Sync Savings is challenging this by treating savings as a default rather than an afterthought. By moving the point of intervention to the payroll level, they are placing traditional retail banks under pressure; if savings are captured at the source, the "primary account" status of a traditional bank becomes less relevant for wealth accumulation. The success of this model will likely depend on whether payroll savings can achieve the same cultural and regulatory momentum as auto-enrolment pensions.