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Launch Innovation Programme 2025

We believe better collaboration with agile start-ups and scale-ups, who are adaptive and innovative in employing technology is key to delivering exceptional service and enhancing our capabilities for our customers

What is the Launch Innovation Programme?

 

Launch is our 12 week collaborative innovation programme focussed on delivering a faster route to experimentation with potential partners. Work with the UK's largest bank, gain insights from senior leaders, top-tier experts, and enjoy free business masterclasses. 

Why join?

  • Collaborate with our dedicated team to define and scope experiments.
  • Validate value propositions and tackle key strategic challenges.
  • Progress to a commercial proof of concept for the most successful ideas.
  • Potential to move into a longer term partnership.

2025 Launch Innovation challenges

 

Help me get into great saving and investment habits

  • Manage multiple goals: stay on track and motivated especially for long-term goals.
  • Give me the confidence to know when investment is the right choice for me, how to start and how to succeed.
  • What I should be focussing on right now to achieve my goals both short and long-term.
  • Offer LLM / SLM / AI solution(s) that help customers and advisors access conversational scenario-based future planning.

Empower me to plan for mine and my family’s future

  • Help me to break the lethargy and act on my future ambitions now
  • Make planning for the long-term future, whether good or bad, more relatable and engaging at any age
  • I know my family and I are under protected. I would like to explore innovative, fun and engaging solutions e.g. marketing, tools (finders, calculators), and digital guidance or advised journeys.
  • Guide me through difficult times with intuitive tools and support

Reward and recognise me for great behaviours

  • Offer me rewards and encouragement in a personal, contextual and relevant way
  • Allow me to store, share and redeem rewards when I want
  • Incentivise my progress towards my personal financial goals
  • Inspire and reward me to engage regularly with your mobile app

Put more money in my pocket

  • Help me and my family connect our everyday finances, and identify opportunities to better manage outgoings
  • Help me maximise my current income and find new sources of income
  • Help me find lost balances
  • Help me get the best value for money for everyday and large purchases

Offer complementary products and services

  • Make living healthily more accessible and rewarding
  • Everything I need for trips and holidays
  • Help with all my home related jobs
  • Support across my mobility needs including the lifecycle of my vehicle. Leverage telematics to better meet the car insurance needs of our customers.
  • Make it easy and rewarding to make more  sustainable choices

Give me the confidence to know how to make the most out of my money

  • Make our relationship more than just transactional
  • Provide financial education in a way that’s  relevant, contextual and engaging at all ages
  • Understand what I need and when, then offer me the right education and support

Be there for our customers as they transition and utilise our digital channels

 
  • Empower customers by clearly communicating the benefits and providing comprehensive support throughout their digital journeys and app interactions. Facilitate a seamless transition to digital channels to enhance customer experience and satisfaction
  • Helping our customers throughout all their interactions with us digitally to ensure they understand the implications of their proposed pension action
  • Help customers understand the benefits of the app and drive registrations using advanced attribution modelling techniques.
  • Support looking for customers who have gone abroad to help ensure we continue to meet their needs

Help LBG deliver for our customers

  • Beta app capability: testing of different variations of journeys/features/ experiences with different customers
  • Help give our customers the best experience when they utilise the automated telephony phone service (IVR)
  • Explore tools that may prevent the need for medical information or reviews when underwriting applications
  • Help with the needs of our neurodiverse customers
  • Inclusive and accessible solutions, eg modernising use of PDFs, audio etc
  • Real-time validation of customer’s identity and financial position to confirm eligibility for a credit product
  • Payee management and personalisation

Launch success stories

 

  • Launch Challenge: Helping customers through their life moments

    Proposition: MyPocketSkill empowers young people to become financially capable. Their digital platform supports over 120k 13-24 year olds to connect with earning opportunities beyond typical employment routes and grow their financial capability.

    How we are working together: We are working with MyPocketSkill to financially empower Gen Z. In 2025, we have offered students at 4 UK universities access to the tool - helping students earn, save and have more control over their money whilst studying.

  • Business challenge: Increase customer understanding of their finances through gamification

    Proposition: Doshi is a gamified financial education solution dedicated to helping financial institutions deepen customer loyalty, gain insights, and offer communities greater financial skills.

    How we are working together: We are currently using Doshi’s bite-sized learning, AI-powered tools, missions and rewards to support 18 to 24-year-old LBG customers with their financial confidence.

  • Business challenge: Improving our customers financial lives

    Proposition: Caura’s payment platform enables car-owners to manage tolls, city charges, MOTs, vehicle tax, and insurance all in one place. Customers can make vehicle-related payments in seconds and get competitive insurance from curated partners.

    How are we working together: Since Caura’s participation in the Launch programme and LBG’s subsequent investment in the platform, we've successfully paired 1,300 Lex customers with Caura, allowing them to effortlessly manage their Lex contracts through the app, with numbers growing daily. LBG’s 130 brokers will be actively marketing the app to customers throughout Q1 2025 to boost adoption. We have also recently launched our first exclusive leasing offer, available only through the app and further developments are on the horizon.

Business challenge: Financial Planning and Added Value Services that meet customer needs

Proposition: Aptap connect banks with Merchants, enabling a streamlines financial management experience, partnership building and the negotiation of exclusive deals that save customers money.

How are we working together: After their participation in the Launch Programme, we have teamed up with Aptap to launch our bill switcher proposition, supporting customers to save money on their bills by comparing and switching energy, broadband, handset and sim card deals.

What we love to see in our applications

Showcase Your Proposition's Link to Our Challenges: Clearly explain how your solution addresses one of our Launch 2025 Challenges. Make it evident how your idea aligns with our goals.

Highlight Your Unique Selling Points: Focus on what makes your solution unique and valuable. Emphasise the specific benefits and innovations your solution offers our customers.

Applications for 2025 are now closed.

Key dates

  • Application Window Closes: 4th April 2025
  • Programme Q&A Sessions: Tuesday 18th and Tuesday 25th of March 3 -3:30pm. Join the session here
  • Notification of Application Outcome: By the end of April 2025
  • Programme commences: 6th May 2025
  • Programme concludes: 28th July 2025

 

 

Diverse applicants

We will actively target, welcome and support applications from founders and management teams from under-represented groups.

The masterclasses

As part of the Launch Programme, companies have access to masterclasses that deliver expertise and advice to founders and wider teams to fuel individual and business growth.

The sessions have been delivered to hundreds of high-growth businesses from Seed to Series C, by experts across Sales, Marketing, Hiring, Fundraising and Ops, to help teams scale quicker.

 

 
  • Sales Strategy – Hypergrowth
  • Sales - scaling revenue teams
  • Demand Generation in B2B
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Fundraising & Valuations

Useful information

  • Most sessions will last for one hour 
  • Sessions can be extended to your wider team
  • All sessions will be recorded and accessible at a later date.
  • Masterclass speakers will provide contact details to the cohort for further questions
  • All masterclasses are accessible live on Zoom