Entrepreneurs: Meet the founder of fintech app Plum as start-up unveils new pensions offering

Victor Trokoudes, a former trader and an early Transferwise employee, is the co-founder and chief executive of savings app Plum - nearly 75% of the app’s users are under-35

Plum founder Victor Trokoudes with his team pre-pandemic

Plum

Naomi Ackerman @nomiackerman

5 April 2021

Young people have been hit hard by the pandemic. Millions of under-35s have lost jobs worldwide, and many of those in work face stagnant wages and the prospect of getting older with far smaller pensions and less job security than their parents.

But being confined to their homes during lockdowns has allowed young people still in work to begin saving over the past year - many for the first time.

Victor Trokoudes, a former trader and an early Transferwise employee, is the co-founder and chief executive of fintech savings app Plum, which claims more than 1 million registered UK users and has seen sign-ups soar in recent months.

The AI assistant links with one or more bank accounts, analyses spending, and transfers small sums every few days (or as often as users like) into an easy-access savings pot that pays 0.25% interest - all for free.

An algorithm allows it to warn against buying an item that you can’t really afford, and the London and Athens-based app can give a breakdown of bills, allowing users to work out where they are wasting cash.

A Cypriot-Canadian, Trokoudes served in the Cypriot army after finishing school, where he provided he was adept at spotting gaps in the market - securing a publishing deal for his book idea on advising recruits how to get through the confusing exam required to pass to become an officer.

But the army life was “not really for me”, and after studying the founder started working as a trader at Morgan Stanley in 2008, right before Lehman Brothers collapsed. It was an “intense” experience, and he was much happier after joining payments platform Transferwise at an early stage, ending up as the unicorn’s head of international and banking.

Yet despite his financial know-how as a trader, it was not until Trokoudes’ father asked him what he was planning to do to protect his financial future that the founder had the idea to start Plum - which he went on to launch in 2016 with friend, Alex Michael.

Trokoudes said: "I was in my 30s and I still wasn't managing my money as well as you'd think, despite being an ex-trader who studied economics. My Dad had told me that I needed to invest my savings and though I knew he was right, I wasn't sorting it out.

“And if it was that hard for me, imagine how hard it is for everyone else - so when we created Plum, we imagined it as a button which sorts all this out for you.”

Today Trokoudes advises aspirational savers to start by setting a £1 a week savings target - something so simple and achievable it doesn’t feel intimidating.

Nearly 75% of Plum’s user base today are under-35s, and it is one of the fintech start-ups currently attempting to become the go-to financial hub for young people. The start-up is about to launch its first pensions offering in a further step towards that goal.

The new subscription-free service will allow users to port over previous pensions and choose how to manage their pot, and Trokoudes said it is aimed at getting "a new generation engaged with their lifetime finances”.

He believes the pandemic has "for sure" made young people look at their finances in a more long-term way.

He said: “Pensions are something a lot of people would rather not think about. Because of this, too many people are missing out on tax benefits and investment opportunities right now. We’ve already shown that it’s possible to save more when it's done automatically, and now we want to change the way people think about their pensions too.

“People want control and flexibility over their finances, so they can be resilient whichever way their life and career pans out."

The new pensions offering will face competition from the likes of Pensionbee, a fintech firm whose app also allows users to manage all their pensions in one place. Launched by another ex-City banker, Romi Savova, Pensionbee is set to float this spring.

Plum has found particular appeal with women - around 60% of app users are female. The pensions gender gap is well documented - a recent report from retirement research body the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) found British women in their 60s have an average of £51,100 in their private pension pots while men have £156,500 - and new apps like Plum directing pensions offerings at a young female user base could have a long term impact.

Trokoudes and Plum are also on their own long-term mission. The start-up, which has raised nearly $20 million since it was founded, is currently pursuing European expansion.

It closed an $10m million funding round last July, led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Japan’s Global Brain, and now employs more than 60 people, having taking on tens of staff members since the pandemic hit.

The app says it saved $500 million for customers worldwide by the end of last year, and is hoping to have saved over $1 billion for users by the end of 2021.

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