Nude, the savings app for first-time buyers, has selected GoCardless, a global leader in direct bank payments, to power the payments for their users to save and invest for their first home deposit.

The deal sees the up-and-coming personal finance app, which helps people reach life’s most important milestones, starting with buying a home, use the GoCardless network to move money from a saver’s bank account into their Nude Lifetime ISA.

Thanks to GoCardless’ growing suite of direct bank payment options, Nude will gain access to both Direct Debit and instant, open banking payments through a single integration. In addition to using GoCardless’ Instant Bank Pay for one-off payments, Nude will be among the first businesses in the UK to use the feature for Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) as the CMA’s deadline for ‘sweeping’ comes into effect.

Stephen Doherty, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Nude, said: “Nude is on a mission to make the financial industry a fairer place, starting with home ownership. Our approach is to make the home buying process easier, and to make it a more accessible experience for first-time buyers, which is why we’re excited to work with GoCardless. Its Instant Bank Pay feature has been hugely popular with our users, who see their deposit grow with every transfer. And when Variable Recurring Payments come in, they can instantly and automatically move their money from any account to their ‘first home fund’ on a regular basis. This will give them more control and a better all-around experience.”

Although the CMA’s sweeping deadline is July, there are varying levels of bank readiness across the industry. This was another factor which contributed to Nude’s decision to select GoCardless as a payment provider.

“We’d love to get all our users onto open banking payments. It gives them peace of mind to see their transfer appear immediately, not to mention a huge motivational boost,” said Doherty. “But we’re also aware some banks won’t be able to support VRPs right at the start. That’s why we value the ability to access both Direct Debit and open banking payments through GoCardless, ensuring all of our users can easily transfer money onto the app.”

Duncan Barrigan, Chief Product Officer and Chief Growth Officer, at GoCardless, said: “We’re proud to support Nude and its aim to address the generational wealth imbalance. It has already used open banking to great effect, pulling in insights about a user’s spending and saving patterns to offer tips which cut the time it takes to reach their deposit goal. With open banking payments now in the mix, users will be on the fast track to their first home. We’ve long said that VRPs have the potential to improve the financial well-being of people up and down the country. Working with companies like Nude makes it all the more tangible.”

GoCardless has been active in the VRP space since 2019, when it took the first live transaction through a sandbox developed by the OBIE. Earlier this month, NatWest Group announced it has signed an agreement with GoCardless to provide VRPs as a new payment option for businesses and consumers, making it the first UK bank to go beyond the requirement for banks to provide VRP in support of ‘sweeping’. GoCardless is also working on a ‘non-sweeping’ VRP pilot which will launch shortly.