Opening
financial data
for good
Our Solutions

Financial data is a resource for social change.

We believe financial data holds untapped potential to drive meaningful change. By making private sector financial data both accessible and discoverable, we enable impactful research and inform decision-making - helping reduce poverty and inequality and improving economic wellbeing.

Our Solutions

Economic Nowcast

Track critical GB economic wellbeing indicators in near-real time.

Providing policymakers, analysts and public sector organisations with near-real time insight into key economic wellbeing indicators. These indicators are drawn from millions of de-identified consumer bank accounts and thousands of SMBs, delivering instant insight into the realities of the GB economy. 

Poverty & inequality

Living beyond means

14.6%

0.2%
since last month

The percentage of people in Great Britain who are spending 120% more than they earn. This is calculated on a 13-week rolling average.

Updated 16 Mar 2025 | Powered by NWG
Economic wellbeing

Average weekly income

£319.68

0.55%
since last month

This metric shows the average weekly GB income, after tax. This is calculated on a 13-week rolling average.

Updated 16 Mar 2025 | Powered by NWG
Economic wellbeing

Small business productivity

£10,674

0.14%
since last quarter

Measured in revenue in real terms generated per employee of small businesses. This is calculated quarterly.

Updated 25 Mar 2025 | Powered by Sage Small Business Tracker

Learn more about the Economic Nowcast.

Nowcasting is a crucial element in shaping more resilient and adaptive economic policies. Learn more about the data behind the Nowcast, methodology and use cases.

Learn more

Our vision

Until now, financial data has remained largely locked away and unused, often only used for profit-driven purposes or product development. Barriers such as privacy concerns, regulatory hurdles, and more have prevented its broader availability for research and social good.

Our vision is to make this data widely accessible for the first time, partnering with change makers to be part of a solution helping build a stronger economy and a more equitable society.

Imagine a world where academia, NGOs, public and private sectors unite with access to new sources of data, co-ordinating efforts with the shared purpose of improving people’s lives.

Name
Magdalena Getler
Role
Head of Research Growth, Smart Data Foundry

Partnering with the public sector and NGOs

We provide valuable, actionable insights from real-time financial data, enabling service providers, analysts, advocates, and policymakers to interpret and act on these findings. Our data encompasses anonymised income and expenditure data from millions of UK bank account holders. By complementing existing data sources, this data supports better informed decision-making and helps NGOs and public sector partners to drive the development of targeted interventions that improve outcomes.

Insights

Unlocking data for impactful research

We are committed to enabling impactful research by making private sector financial data both discoverable and accessible to researchers for the first time; unlocking new opportunities to explore critical socioeconomic challenges. Our academic partnerships are founded on mutual learning and shared goals, driving research that addresses society’s most pressing issues.

Research

Building a pioneering data-sharing ecosystem with our trusted data partners

By building trusted partnerships, we enable leading financial institutions to securely and responsibly share real-time data. Our data-sharing approach, built on strong governance and robust agreements, keeps data secure within our trusted research environment; ensuring privacy and compliance while fostering collaboration and trust.

Data partnerships

Latest blog posts

View all
hands on a laptop
15 May 2025

Using banking transaction data for social good

A practitioner's SWOT analysis of de-identified consumer banking data for researchers.
ResearchFINDSSmart data
a digital pulse on a dark blue background
7 May 2025

Insights from the April Smart Data Foundry Economic Nowcast 

1 in 6 British adults are spending more than they earn.
InsightsNowcastPolicy
A man smashes a piggy bank with a hammer
24 Apr 2025

Income Volatility and Insecurity: What Smart Data Tells Us About Britain’s Hidden Struggles

It’s not just how much money people make, it’s how predictably they make it. Smart data provides a new lens on income volatility.
ResearchFINDSIncome Volatility

Become a data partner

Securely share data and actively address societal challenges. 

Our data partners are actively contributing to groundbreaking research that drives insights into economic wellbeing and reducing poverty and inequality.

Get in touch

Sign up for the latest updates

Receive news, insights and event invites straight to your inbox.