Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan

Our commitment

At Sync Savings, we believe that financial wellbeing is fundamental to a fair and inclusive society.

Our mission is to improve financial wellbeing at scale by making workplace savings simple, accessible and automatic for every employee. We therefore view Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) not simply as an internal employment policy, but as a core principle of how we design our products, engage with policymakers and industry, and seek to improve access to financial resilience.

Financial exclusion is not experienced equally. People on lower incomes and those facing financial insecurity are often least able to build precautionary savings, while the consequences of an unexpected financial shock can be particularly severe. This is because onboarding people on lower incomes is typically significantly more expensive. This is because renters or those not on the electoral role and/or without passports and driving licenses are much more expensive to KYC. Once onboarded these folks are also likely less  profitable to serve. In addition the FCA has highlighted that 1 in 10 UK adults have no cash savings and another fifth have less than £1,000 available for emergencies. Its 2025 Statement on Workplace Savings Schemes recognises the potential for workplace savings to help millions of consumers build financial resilience and opens the door to all important simplified due diligence (cutting out costly and friction packed KYC steps) (FCA).

Our approach is therefore to avoid platitudes, focus on real users who have stressful and complicated lives, and solve for the best possible outcomes rather than incremental improvements such as communication or design tweaks. These are the kind of fundamental changes, which along with great design will address the massive savings gap in the UK and operate at the point at which people receive their income: the workplace and payroll.

Our JEDI objectives

Sync's JEDI programme has four principal objectives:

1. Make financial resilience more inclusive by removing unnecessary barriers to saving via payroll savings and pushing for very user centric ‘opt -out’ mechanisms.

2. Design products around the needs of diverse users, particularly people who may find traditional financial services difficult to access or navigate.

3. Use our voice and expertise to advocate for greater financial inclusion through engagement with government, regulators, industry and community organisations.

4. Ensure that diversity and inclusion are considered in our own workplace, governance and stakeholder relationships.

1. Inclusive Product Design

Financial inclusion is embedded in Sync's product strategy.

Rather than assuming that consumers will actively seek out savings products, Sync designs savings into the systems people already use to receive and manage their pay. This reduces reliance on financial confidence, spare time, knowledge of financial products or the ability to navigate complex financial services.

Our product development process incorporates:

• user research and interviews;

• usability testing;

• customer discovery;

• feedback from employers and payroll providers;

• engagement with financial institutions and credit unions; and

• ongoing analysis of customer behaviour and outcomes.

This ensures that we design and build with our stakeholders, rather than simply designing for them.

Particular consideration is given to reducing friction in the savings journey, ensuring that workplace savings can be accessible to a broad workforce and avoiding unnecessary barriers that may disproportionately affect people with lower financial confidence or limited engagement with financial services.

Sync's model also supports credit unions and other existing workplace savings providers by providing smarter integration into payroll software. This enables organisations that already have strong community relationships and financial inclusion missions to reach employees through better technology.

2. Financial Inclusion and Public Policy

Sync has made public advocacy for workplace savings and financial inclusion a significant part of its JEDI contribution.

The Company has engaged extensively with government, regulators and industry to help address barriers that have historically limited the availability of workplace savings.

A particularly important milestone was Sync's engagement around the FCA Statement on Workplace Savings Schemes, published in August 2025.

The FCA statement provided important clarity on issues including National Minimum Wage considerations, financial promotions, customer due diligence, data sharing, FSCS requirements and Consumer Duty. It was intended to give employers, payroll providers and savings providers greater confidence that workplace savings can be implemented within the existing regulatory framework. (FCA) This public statement in particular has allowed us to ensure that thousands of users can avoid the friction associated with KYC and also to pass on the onboarding cost saving in the form of better interest rates for users. 

In addition, Sync is a founding member of the National Coalition for Workplace Savings.This is an important forum raising the profile of workplace savings and pushing for greater access, adoption and clarity.

Sync has actively contributed to the wider policy environment supporting this development and continues to engage with government, regulators and industry stakeholders to help make workplace savings more accessible.

We see this as a core part of our JEDI commitment: changing the system so that financial resilience is available to more people, rather than relying solely on individuals to overcome structural barriers themselves.

3. Research and Industry Collaboration

Sync actively contributes to research and evidence-building around financial inclusion and workplace savings.

In 2026, Sync participated in the stakeholder engagement underpinning Nest Insight's Balancing today and tomorrow: A blueprint for unlocking a more adequate, fair and sustainable auto enrolment system, produced through extensive engagement with employers, pension providers, savings providers, consumer groups, charities, policymakers, payroll professionals and other stakeholders. Sync is specifically listed among the organisations contributing to the work. (Inclusive Money)

The research highlights an important JEDI issue: the trade-off between saving for the future and dealing with financial pressures today. It identifies that people on low and moderate incomes can face particularly acute financial resilience challenges, with around half unable to cover a £250 expense from savings. It also highlights inequalities in pension participation, including lower participation among lower-income workers, women, disabled people and some minority ethnic groups. (Inclusive Money)

Sync's contribution reflects our belief that financial inclusion requires an integrated approach to today's resilience and tomorrow's financial security.

Our involvement in research of this nature allows Sync to contribute practical insight from the workplace savings ecosystem while learning from consumer groups, policymakers, pension providers, researchers and other stakeholders.

4. Advocacy for an Inclusive Workplace Savings System

Sync is committed to working collaboratively rather than treating financial inclusion as a competitive issue.

We engage with:

• Government and policymakers;

• the FCA and other regulatory stakeholders;

• payroll providers;

• employers;

• banks and savings providers;

• credit unions;

• pension providers;

• consumer and community organisations;

• research organisations; and

• industry bodies.

This includes our participation in the Nation of Savers Charter and our role as a founding member of the National Coalition for Workplace Savings.

We believe that a genuinely inclusive savings ecosystem will require collaboration between organisations with different capabilities. Sync can provide technology and payroll connectivity; banks and credit unions can provide savings products; employers provide trusted access to employees; and government, regulators and community organisations can help create the conditions for wider adoption.

5. Diversity and Inclusion Within Sync

Sync is committed to maintaining an inclusive working environment in which people are treated fairly, with dignity and respect.

We seek to ensure that recruitment, development, progression and day-to-day working practices are based on ability, contribution and potential and are not unfairly influenced by characteristics unrelated to an individual's role.

As a growing company, we recognise that our approach must evolve as our workforce expands. We will continue to monitor our recruitment and people practices and consider how we can broaden access to opportunities within fintech and financial services.

We also recognise the value of diversity of experience in product development. A diverse team is better positioned to identify assumptions and barriers that may otherwise be overlooked when designing financial products for a broad workforce.

6. JEDI Action Plan

7. Measuring Our Impact

Sync will continue to develop quantitative and qualitative measures of its JEDI impact as the business scales.

These will include, where appropriate:

• number of employees with access to workplace savings;

• number of savers onboarded;

• savings participation and engagement;

• accessibility and usability feedback;

• evidence of barriers identified and removed through product development;

• employer and employee feedback;

• participation in financial inclusion research and policy initiatives; and

• progress against our internal diversity and inclusion objectives.

We recognise that financial inclusion cannot be measured solely by the number of accounts opened. The ultimate objective is to improve people's ability to withstand financial shocks and make positive financial decisions over time.

8. Looking Forward

Our ambition is for workplace savings to become a normal and inclusive component of working life, available to people regardless of income, financial confidence or previous engagement with financial services.

The FCA's recognition that workplace savings could help millions of consumers build financial resilience, combined with the growing body of research around the relationship between emergency savings and long-term financial security, reinforces the importance of this work. (FCA)

Sync will continue to use its technology, product expertise and industry relationships to address structural barriers to saving while advocating for a more inclusive workplace financial system.

Our JEDI commitment is therefore simple: build financial products that work for more people, listen to the people who use them, and work with government, industry and community organisations to change the system so that financial resilience is accessible to everyone.

Next public JEDI progress update: within 12 months.