A debit card and app for people living with dementia that has appeared on the Dragons Den TV show, Sibstar has been unveiled as the winner of the FinTech’s Pitch Live 2024 competition, held this week at the Pay360 trade show in London. 

The UK competition, sponsored by Mastercard, involved the top three companies selected by a VC judging panel out of eight entrants, pitching live on the Pay360 exhibition floor, disruption stage, on Tuesday at the ExCel arena in London.

The winner was unveiled on Wednesday after an overnight judging process was combined with live votes collected from the audience.

Sibstar receives: free membership for a year at the Payments Association, which is the trade body responsible for organising Pay360; the opportunity to do a ten minute presentation on the final day of the show on 20th March on the main conference stage; a gratis 15 minute speaking slot on the show floor at next year’s event.  

To enter, FinTechs had to be incorporated on or after March 2021; have raised at least £5 million; be registered and operating in the UK; and be in a beta or live developmental phrase.

Founder and CEO, Jayne Sibley, told attendees at the main conference stage that she created Sibstar after her mum got dementia.

“I built the app because of my lived experience,” she said, while detailing the problems her mother was encountering remembering to take cash, use one card and not another, and so on when she went shopping or outside. 

How It Works

The app is accessible via the Apple Store or Google Play and a debit card is put in the post to those that sign up for later activation.

It can be loaded with money by setting up a standing order from any bank and, crucially, Sibstar can be specified so that the carer for the person with dementia – or indeed any debilitating illness – can control the app, with the card held by the sufferer.

This ensures security and safety and “gives the family peace of mind”, said Sibley. 

Alternatively, the person with dementia, down’s syndrome, or whatever ailment, can specify the app and card for themselves only, if they are able. A change can be made later down the line if the condition deteriorates. 

Users can decide how and where to use the Sibstar card. This is what makes it different to other debit cards.

Users can also: set daily, monthly and cashpoint limits; freeze/unfreeze cashpoint withdrawals, online and phone use; set up a daily auto top up, and so on.

“There is a £4.99(US$ set up fee and £4.99 monthly subscription,” explained Sibley, while adding that her company has “raised £800,000 so far” to launch and grow the product. 

This includes some investment money from two participants in BBC TV’s Dragons Den programme, on which Sibley appeared this February, winning support from Sara Davies and Deborah Meaden.

“It was terrifying,” pitching to the Dragons, said Sibley, whilst stressing that it was ultimately worth it.

The potential marketplace for the new launch “is not niche”, she added, as she explained there are already one million people living with dementia in the UK alone, and this is set to rise considerably as people live longer. 

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