Zopa and Upvest to launch investment platform for UK’s “reluctant investors”

Zopa, the digital bank that has built a following of 1.6m customers since pivoting from peer-to-peer lending, is preparing to enter the retail investment market through a partnership with Upvest, the Berlin-based infrastructure provider whose technology underpins trading and investing for some of Europe’s leading fintech groups.

The tie-up, announced this week, will see Upvest supply the investment API powering Zopa’s new investing proposition, which will be available in both General Investment Accounts and Stocks and Shares ISAs.

The move marks Zopa’s most significant product expansion since it gained its UK banking licence in 2020 and positions the group to compete more directly with platforms such as Freetrade, Moneybox and Revolut.

Zopa said the rollout would begin in beta for existing customers, ahead of a full launch in early 2026. The initial focus is a large cohort of potential first-time investors: the roughly 15m UK adults who hold cash savings worth more than six months of income but have yet to put any money into investment products.

The partnership comes as regulators and policymakers continue to fret about the UK’s persistent “cash drag”, with households holding vast sums in low-yielding accounts despite high inflation and the long-term shift in pensions towards defined contribution schemes.

Zopa hopes that a simplified, low-entry platform, allowing customers to invest from as little as £1, can turn more savers into investors by reducing frictions and providing clearer guidance.

Future updates to the product will include a curated range of exchange traded funds and in-app prompts designed to help users understand risk, diversification and market behaviour. Customers will also be able to move money in and out during the tax year without jeopardising their full ISA allowance, a feature Zopa expects will appeal to those wary of locking money away.

Merve Ferrero, Zopa’s chief strategy officer, described the launch as a natural extension of the bank’s efforts to broaden its financial services offering.

“For far too long, Brits have been sitting on billions of cash — not because they don’t want to invest, but because they don’t know where to start,” she said. “Bringing investments and Stocks & Shares ISAs alongside savings under one Zopa roof gives our customers more financial control, all within a simple, education-led platform designed to build confidence.”

Upvest, founded in 2017 and now operating in more than 20 European markets, provides the regulated plumbing behind millions of monthly investment orders. Its clients include N26, bunq, Santander’s Openbank and DKB, as well as UK-facing fintechs such as Webull and Revolut.

Symmie Swil, Upvest’s UK general manager, said Zopa’s addition to the roster underscored the growing demand for embedded investing solutions.

“Our partnership will make investing easy, simple and trustworthy for Zopa’s customers as it enters its next phase of growth,” she said. By integrating investing functionality with everyday banking, Zopa would be “offering customers a holistic view of their finances and meeting them where they are”.

A key element of the integration is a more streamlined approach to ISA transfers. Upvest’s technology will allow Zopa users to move money seamlessly between the bank’s existing cash ISA and its forthcoming Stocks and Shares ISA, as well as complete external transfers with real-time visibility of progress.

For Zopa, the upgrade offers a chance to build a more comprehensive financial hub for customers, linking saving, borrowing and investing. For Upvest, it strengthens its foothold in the UK market at a time when financial institutions are increasingly turning to third-party infrastructure to speed product launches and navigate regulatory complexity.

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