Aspire is designed to deliver measurable impact by streamlining the distribution of various types of student financial aid, ensuring that beneficiaries receive their funds promptly and securely while materially reducing the time and administrative costs involved for funders.

JS Group is currently the specialist provider to universities enabling them to efficiently disperse funds such as bursaries, scholarships and other financial support to students.

Initially, this strategic investment will help JS Group change how financial support is delivered in the higher education sector, driving improved Social Inclusion by removing barriers, so students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds can access and succeed at university.

The investment will also accelerate the adoption of Aspire in other sectors including charities, local and central government, where the impactful distribution of financial support is critical to social mobility.

The investment underscores NatWest’s commitment to supporting innovative solutions that enhance financial accessibility and efficient management for funders through the adoption of technology.

In 2022, NatWest’s payments solution Payit and JS Group joined forces. They integrated Payit by NatWest into their Aspire platform to improve the ‘last mile’ of their service – the payment – to support a better student and university experience. They rolled out an innovative solution to the UK university sector, to get bursary and hardship funds to students in minutes rather than days.

This service simplified access to money, by helping students mitigate financial hardship with faster payments directly into their bank account and has been launched with universities across the UK.

Today by broadening this partnership with JS Group, NatWest aims to further its mission of empowering key sectors of the economy with reliable and efficient financial services. The minority stake in JS Group represents a significant step in NatWest’s journey of collaborating with companies to drive payments innovation.

Barrie Davison, National Sector Head at NatWest comments:

“Building on the well-established partnership between Payit by NatWest and JS Group, this investment enables us to work towards a shared goal of accelerating the adoption of open banking technology.

“We are excited to support JS Group in their mission to simplify and improve the way universities and other funders manage and distribute financial support while being at the forefront of the payments industry. This investment aligns with our goal of fostering innovation and providing financial solutions while supporting the higher education sector. It is a key opportunity to advance payment innovations and shape the future of the payments landscape while improving customer experience.”

Peter Gray, Chairman and CEO at JS Group comments:

“We are thrilled to welcome NatWest as an investor in JS Group to drive our mission of transforming the delivery and impact of financial support. Aspire gives funders greater optionality over the delivery of financial support and gives beneficiaries agency over how they receive funds. This investment will enable us to further develop our platform and expand our reach, ensuring that more universities, more sectors and more beneficiaries can take advantage of our efficient and secure payment services. We look forward to working closely with NatWest as we continue innovating. Their expertise will be invaluable as we seek to scale our platform and accelerate our venture into new sectors.”

JS Group were advised throughout the transaction by FRP Corporate Finance (Lead Corporate Finance advisers) - Simon Davies and Darren Miller; Shoosmiths (Legal advisers) – Steve Porter, Lisa Sigalet and Lawrence Renny; and DSA (Transaction Tax Advisers) – Nick Byfield and Doug MacLeod.