Nafeesa Jafferjee (Left) and Nikos Melachrinos (right)
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UK personality-focused fintech Quirk launches in the US
US consumers will now be able to access the UK-based fintech app, which centers around testing “Big Five” traits.
Quirk, a UK finance app built specifically for Gen Z, is set to launch in the US this week.
The firm uses personality type testing based on “Big Five” traits to help customers by providing advice tailored to their specific personal situations and psychological profile.
Developed in the 1980’s, the Big Five methodology groups personalities based on extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism
Quirk said that US consumers will enjoy exactly the same Quirk service available to users in the UK, with the system adjusted to reflect the differences in personal finance products, issues, and terminology in America.
As with its operation in the UK, Quirk operates with support from leading B2B payments enabler, Plaid.
The launch follows the launch of Quirk in the UK in July 2022, following it raking up 10,000 in its beta test.
Quirk claims that over 45,000 Gen Z’ers in the UK have taken Quirk’s financial personality test, with 86% saying it reflected them accurately.
In addition, the company says it has more than 20,000 active users, and that 56 per cent of these customers are women, far above the average for consumer fintech apps.
Nikos Melachrinos, co-founder and CEO at Quirk thinks that Gen Z has "been badly neglected" on both sides of the Atlantic "because most of the finance industry is focused where they will make the most money, on older and wealthier people".
However, Melachrinos pointed out that Gen Z will soon make up "40 per cent of global consumer numbers, representing $140 billion in spending power".
Nafeesa Jafferjee, co-founder and chief of product at Quirk, said that out of the young people she spoke to about the current crop of financial information, they felt it "lacked the context of their financial situation and guidance on what tangible actions they should take".
