UK digital bank Monzo teamed up with Inclusive Money Center on Nest Tackling the significant shortfall in retirement savings for the country’s self-employed. Drawing on years of research and Monzo’s track record in helping business clients manage their businesses, the collaboration aims to examine practical ways banks can encourage individual investors and freelancers to set aside money for later life. finance.
Only around 17 percent England4.4 million self-employed people in the country currently contribute to their pension; This is in stark contrast to the approximately 90 percent of eligible employees who benefit from workplace plans.
This gap exists even though roughly three-quarters of self-employed people are aware of the importance of preparing for business. pensionThis aligns with the views of those in traditional employment.
Without automatic enrollment, fluctuating incomes and a lack of employer contributions make consistent savings much more difficult for this group.
The second UK Pensions Commission has flagged the participation of the self-employed in retirement as one of the most pressing issues facing the national pension system.
The partnership will explore whether simpler, more automated approaches to retirement saving can make a meaningful difference while providing flexibility for those who choose not to participate or cannot afford regular contributions.
Inclusive Money brings seven years of exclusive research into the barriers faced by self-employed savers. Monzo It contributes its experience supporting hundreds of thousands of individual investors with business banking services.
digital bank has previously proven the power of behavioral design: more than two million customers took part in the automatic Savings Challenge after collectively putting aside more than £350 million in 2025, and Monzo Business users channeled £450 million into automatic Tax Bins last year to cover future liabilities.
Analytics Data generated through real-world customer engagement with Monzo Business will feed into future product development and be shared with the Pensions Commission to provide a broader review of expected pension outcomes in 2027.
The study builds on Inclusive Money’s ongoing multi-year program, which reveals early evidence that “default savings” models hold promise for increasing participation without eliminating individual choice.
Ruth PersianDeputy Director of Research and Innovation at the Nest Inclusive Money Center said:
“Monzo’s approach to product design will help us take our research to the next step: moving from promising ideas to real-world solutions for real customers.”
Jordan ShwideMonzo Business Managing Director said:
“Millions of self-employed people are missing out on the benefits of automatic retirement savings, even though many want to set aside money for the future. In line with our mission to make money work for everyone, we want to help people build financial security and resilience.”
Combining academic insight banking enterprise, tools to develop Approaches that fit the realities of self-employment and ultimately strengthen the long-term financial resilience of millions of people England workers.
