Science Card, the e-money current account allowing users to contribute to scientific research, has launched its new debit card with the support of Mastercard, the payments juggernaut.
Users across the UK can now support UK innovations across health, climate change and tech by simply using the new Science Card and Mastercard debit card. When customers make a payment on the card, Science Card will automatically round up the amount and use it to fund research on the consumer’s chosen themes or projects. Setting up an account is free and customers get given the opportunity to pick which UK university projects they would like to support.
Darren Deal, senior vice president, fintech, government and digital partnerships at Mastercard
Darren Deal, senior vice president, fintech, government and digital partnerships at Mastercard said: “We’re excited to be working with Science Card to tackle some of today’s biggest challenges and support future innovations in health, science and technology. At Mastercard we’re focused on using the latest payment technology to enable more people to support causes they care about and help build a better future.”
The automatic round-ups can be multiplied from 1x to 10x and customers can vary the projects they round up into.
Current research people can choose to support includes projects focusing on:
kidney transplants
dementia
cervical cancer
The research is being conducted at:
King’s College London
University College London
Newcastle University
Kingston University
UK research funding troubles
Unlike other countries around the world, like Germany, South Korea and the US, where research spending is around 4.6 per cent of GDP, in the UK it sits around 2.7 per cent. This has consequently put the UK in a £4billion funding gap. As a result, university researchers are finding themselves spending a lot more time trying to get funding, rather than putting time into the research itself.
Science Card’s ambition is to overcome this by making it possible for researchers to crowdfund their work. This not only creates a new and innovative way to overcome the sector’s funding gap, but also provides an opportunity to raise awareness amongst the public of the cutting-edge research taking place at UK universities.
Science Card customers will be kept updated by academics and researchers on projects’ progress and how their contributions are helping to create a better future.
Daniel Baeriswyl, PhD, founder of Science Card
Daniel Baeriswyl, PhD, founder of Science Card said: “The UK is a world leader when it comes to research and development, with huge potential to advance the areas of health, technology and combating climate change. But for too many people in these fields, their time is spent securing increasingly hard-won funding, taking them away from what matters most and creating the risk that vital research might not even be able to take place.
“At Science Card we want to overcome this. Our mission is to bridge the gap between science and financial services, empowering people to shape our sustainable future, and enabling them to drive game-changing breakthroughs and innovations in science and tech, all by just going about their everyday spending.”
Looking to the future
Professor Bashir M. Al-Hashimi CBE FREng FRS, vice president (research and innovation) at King’s College London, said: “At King’s we’re training the next generation of scientists and creating a better, more sustainable future. The funding provided by Science Card and their customers will help to further strengthen this work and support important technological advances in areas including aerospace, medical imaging and environmental monitoring.”
Founded with a mission to build a financial platform that accelerates innovation in science and technology, Science Card aims to be the global banking partner of choice in the fight against cancer, climate change and pollution.
Integrated with its round-up feature, Science Card also offers customers a free e-money current account service including:
Vaults to organise finances
The ability to send and receive money instantly, domestically and abroad
A Mastercard debit card, useable online, in person or via your phone
Industry-leading security features to protect both account and card
The post Bridging the Funding Gap: Science Card Launches New Way to Support UK Researchers appeared first on The Fintech Times.
