Salad Money
Salad Money is a UK FCA-regulated social purpose fintech and the country's largest consumer lending CDFI, providing £300–£2,000 personal loans to employed consumers — particularly NHS and public sector workers — using Open Banking and machine learning to assess affordability in place of traditional credit scores.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Salad Money does
Salad Money (legally Salad Finance Limited) is a London-based social purpose fintech founded in 2018 and operational since 2019, operating as the UK's largest consumer lending Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI). The company provides small personal loans ranging from £300 to £2,000 at a representative 79.5% APR, with repayment terms of 12 or 18 months. Its core proposition targets employed UK consumers — particularly NHS staff, teachers, and other public sector workers — who are frequently declined by mainstream lenders due to thin or impaired credit files, despite having stable incomes. Loan decisions are made in approximately 10 minutes with funds typically disbursed within two hours.
The company's core technology stack is an Open Banking-powered affordability assessment engine that ingests applicants' real-time bank transaction data (income flows, direct debits, spending patterns, gambling outflows) and applies machine learning models to evaluate repayment capacity, deliberately bypassing traditional credit bureau scoring. Salad supplements this D2C self-serve platform with a B2B employer partnership channel that embeds its lending product into workforce financial wellbeing programmes, primarily within NHS trusts and other public sector organisations. Revenue is generated through interest and fees on originated personal loans. Since launch, the company has lent over £250 million, serves more than 150,000 cumulative customers, and reports an active loan book exceeding £100 million as of March 2026, processing roughly 4,000 applications per day. Capital is sourced via a combination of impact investment grants (Fair4All Finance, Ceniarth), senior debt facilities (a £40m facility from a US credit fund in 2023 bringing total senior debt to £50m), and retail impact bonds distributed through the Ethex platform. The business is FCA-authorised (registration 795723), GDPR-compliant, a Certified Social Enterprise, and the recipient of a 2026 King's Award for Enterprise for innovation in fair and affordable lending.
Salad Money firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Salad Money
- Legal name
- Salad Finance Limited
- Website
- https://saladmoney.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Salad Money is a UK FCA-regulated social purpose fintech and the country's largest consumer lending CDFI, providing £300–£2,000 personal loans to employed consumers — particularly NHS and public sector workers — using Open Banking and machine learning to assess affordability in place of traditional credit scores.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Salad Money is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Salad Money business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Loan Interest and Fees: Salad generates revenue through interest charged on personal loans. Loans range from £300 to £2,000 with a representative APR of 79.5%. Repayments are made monthly over 12 or 18 months.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Monthly | Small Personal Loans (£300 - £2,000) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Salad Money product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Salad Money provides small personal loans of £300 to £2,000 over 12 or 18 months at a representative 79.5% APR, assessed through Open Banking transaction data and machine learning rather than traditional credit scoring. Targeted primarily at NHS staff, teachers, and other UK workers earning over £1,500/month who are excluded by mainstream lenders, the service delivers decisions within 10 minutes and funds typically within 2 hours.
Product overview
Salad Money (Salad Finance Limited) is a UK-based social purpose fintech offering personal loans through its 'More Than Your Score' platform. The core product provides small personal loans (£300-£1,500) with 12 or 18-month terms, differentiated by using Open Banking-based affordability assessment instead of traditional credit scores. The company offers specialised loan variants targeting specific segments (NHS staff, nurses, teachers), credit profiles (bad credit, low credit score 400/500/600), and use cases (emergency loans, same day loans, payday alternatives). Additional services include loan top-up capabilities for existing customers and a free benefits checking tool. The company also offers affordable lending bonds for impact investors through the Ethex platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- More Than Your Score Personal Loans Salad's core personal loan product offering loans from £300 to £1,500 with 12- or 18-month repayment terms, assessed via Open Banking affordability data rather than credit scores; serves employed UK adults earning over £1,500/month, especially NHS staff, teachers, and other public sector workers.
- Loan Top-Up Allows existing Salad customers to apply to top up their loan once they are over halfway through their current loan term, subject to a fresh affordability assessment and eligibility checks.
- Affordable Lending Bond Impact investment bond issued by Salad on the Ethex platform, allowing investors to fund the company's lending to credit-excluded consumers while targeting potential tax-free returns of 8% via the Ethex Innovative Finance ISA.
- Benefits Checking Tool A free online benefits calculator that helps Salad customers identify benefits they may be entitled to claim, potentially adding on average £400 per month to their income.
Quantifiable outcome
- Customers saved £41 million in interest during 2024-25
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Salad Money
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Salad Money technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability4 records
Feature3 records
Salad Money partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- EthexcoreDirect impact investing platform used by Salad for their affordable lending bond offers. The fifth bond offer was live on Ethex, allowing investors to support financial inclusion while targeting potential tax-free returns of 8% through the Innovative Finance ISA.
- StepChangesupportingFree and impartial debt advice company that Salad refers customers to when they are struggling with debts. Provides holistic assessment and practical support including Debt Management Plans.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Salad Money competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lendable: UK consumer and SME credit platform using open banking and alternative data for affordability-led lending. Very similar technology stack and product offering to Salad.
- Oakam: UK-based consumer lender specializing in personal loans for borrowers with limited or thin credit files, using alternative data and affordability assessments. Highly comparable product, customer segment, and inclusive lending mission.
- Possible Finance: US fintech offering small installment loans to underbanked borrowers using alternative data underwriting. Highly comparable mission, customer, product structure, and technology approach.
- Amigo Loans: UK guarantor lender that historically served borrowers rejected by mainstream banks, similar target customer and lending philosophy. Provides a useful benchmark for UK sub-prime consumer credit unit economics.
- Tally: US-based fintech providing credit cards refinancing and small-dollar lending to underserved consumers using cash-flow underwriting. Functionally analogous model with similar product positioning.
- Provident Financial: Long-established UK home credit and consumer lender serving non-standard borrowers through weekly repayment products. Comparable customer base of underserved UK consumers and similar small-ticket consumer credit product set.
Broad incumbents
- Zopa: UK-born digital bank and P2P pioneer now offering consumer loans, credit cards, and savings. Significant overlap in UK consumer credit market with broader balance sheet and regulated bank status as differentiator.
Emerging players
- Wagestream: UK earned wage access provider partnering with employers (including NHS Trusts) to let workers draw earned wages early. Competes for the same employer-channel wallet share and serves overlapping NHS/public-sector personas.
- Neyber: UK financial wellbeing platform providing workplace loans and savings products via employer partnerships. Directly competes in the B2B employer channel serving UK workers, including NHS and public-sector employers.
Others
- StepChange Debt Charity: UK free debt advice charity that Salad partners with for customer referrals. Adjacent in the financial wellbeing ecosystem for the same underserved borrower segment, but a not-for-profit rather than lender.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Salad Money social profiles
Digital presenceSalad Money compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Salad Money financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Salad Money leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Salad Money funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Salad Money M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Salad Money
What does Salad Money do?
Salad Money provides small personal loans of £300 to £2,000 over 12 or 18 months at a representative 79.5% APR, assessed through Open Banking transaction data and machine learning rather than traditional credit scoring. Targeted primarily at NHS staff, teachers, and other UK workers earning over £1,500/month who are excluded by mainstream lenders, the service delivers decisions within 10 minutes and funds typically within 2 hours.
Is Salad Money a public or private company?
Salad Money is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Salad Money founded?
Salad Money was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Salad Money based?
Salad Money is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Salad Money make money?
One revenue line is on record: loan Interest and Fees.
Who are Salad Money's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lendable, Oakam, Possible Finance, Amigo Loans, Tally and Provident Financial. Zopa is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Wagestream and Neyber. StepChange Debt Charity is listed as an others.
Does Salad Money have an API?
No public API is recorded for Salad Money.