Coalitions
Learn more about our coalitions and how to get involved
How a coalition works
CFIT is partnering with some of the world’s leading financial institutions, fintech companies
and industry bodies to find solutions to challenges facing individuals and companies.
Identify key issues that businesses and individuals face that can be resolved with the CFIT coalition model.
Assess the required data sharing and collaboration between banks, regulators, fintechs, academics and others.
Define the range of practical applications where data collaboration can have a meaningful outcome.
Assess potential solutions that can answer the challenges and identify the required partners that are needed, including technology, partnerships, and governance.
Develop prototypes to validate if the solutions work in real-world contexts.
Demonstrate that the solutions will provide measurable impact for consumers and businesses.
Coalitions in progress
Coalition 3: SME Access to Credit
- Using Smart Data to empower UK small and micro businesses in their growth journey
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the UK economy. For this coalition, we aim to accelerate the development of the SME finance market, creating Smart Data solutions that will help SMEs access appropriate funding and improve their awareness of different financial options.
- This will build on the success of CFIT’s Open Finance coalition, Digital Verification coalition, and SME Finance Taskforce by developing the technology, policy and regulatory solutions to help the UK’s 5.6 million small businesses raise external finance more readily, successfully and efficiently.
- The coalition plans include developing SME focused solutions and value-based proof of concept, such as an SME digital finance dashboard, and evaluate the impact of additional data on SME lending.
Join a Coalition
Let us know if you are interested in joining a CFIT coalition by entering your email below, and the coalition of interest. A member of our team will get back to you with more information.
Previous coalitions
Digital Verification Coalition
The Digital Company ID coalition has shown that adopting a secure, efficient, and trusted digital identity system for UK businesses could save billions annually, reduce fraud, boost confidence across sectors, and unlock transformative opportunities such as Smart Data.
June 2024 – March 2025
The coalition focused on developing and publishing the Digital Company ID, publishing the Blueprint in March 2025, outlining how a trusted, secure, and interoperable digital identity system for UK businesses could transform the economy by improving efficiency, reducing fraud, saving billions in lost revenue, and unlocking new opportunities across sectors, including through Smart Data, while fostering confidence, trust, and tangible benefits for both banks and businesses.
50%
Our POC found that Digital Company ID could deliver over a 50% drop in the costs associated with business verification and bank KYB procedures
£1.7 Billion
CFIT’s industry-wide coalition brought together a 70-strong unique group of experts across sectors Digital Company ID could lead to an annual reduction in compliance costs of £1.7 billion
60%
Time required for verifying and onboarding businesses during bank account opening could be reduced by 60% with Digital Company ID
£6.8 Billion
Digital Company ID will help mitigate against the annual £6.8 billion cost of fraud to the UK economy
Open Finance Coalition
CFIT’s first Coalition focused on Open Finance and published its blueprint in February 2024, highlighting the positive impact of wider data access to increase SME finance and improve financial inclusion.
July 2023 – Feb 2024
CFIT’s first Coalition focused on Open Finance and published its blueprint in February 2024, highlighting the positive impact of wider data access to increase SME finance and improve financial inclusion. It has shown how Debt Advice Charities could enhance financial outcomes for vulnerable consumers across the UK by 40% and this work has been taken forward by Citizens Advice. It also addressed the challenges of access to SME lending through additional data sets resulting in an increase of automated lending of 25% and a path forward to realising the advantages of Open Finance.
The FCA has since prioritised Open Finance in their 2025-2030 strategy, considering initially the impact on SME finance.
£30.5 billion
Research has found that delivering Open Finance and personal data mobility could boost UK GDP by £30.5 billion
150,000
We found that enhanced data sharing could provide up to an extra 150,000 consumers annually with tailored financial advice
£22 billion
SMEs regularly find it difficult to obtain timely and affordable finance, with research estimating a £22 billion funding gap
18%
18% of SMEs report financial struggles
Join a Coalition
Let us know if you are interested in joining a CFIT coalition by entering your email below, and the coalition of interest. A member of our team will get back to you with more information.
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