Monday 13 November 2017 2:24 pm

Barclays is working with startup Flux to make your receipts digital and paperless

Barclays is the latest major bank to turn to a startup as we approach the era of Open Banking, when high street banks will have to work even harder to keep up with newer and more digital rivals.

The bank is working with Flux, a UK fintech, for making receipts digital, initially in a trial with around 10,000 customers who are among its early product testers but with plans to put it in the hands of its 5m mobile users.

They will get app alerts in real time with purchase details when they're shopping, with the idea that it can offer users greater control over their spending when they know exactly what their cash is going on.

The trial will also see lunch spot EAT given the ability to issue digital receipts via Barclaycard.

Flux, which is already partnering with digital challenger banks Starling and Monzo, connects the information between point of sale software and bank cards to provide more information than that usually found on a bank statement when it comes to transactions.

It's understood to be one of the first times Barclays has adopted technology in practice from a startup that has been part of its fintech accelerator.

“We believe that Flux is the next biggest innovation for retail payments since contactless[," said co-founder and chief executive of Flux Matty Cusden-Ross.

"Nobody wants to keep track of hundreds of bits of paper in the 21st century. We are determined to digitise the world’s receipts by linking to how customers pay anyway so we don’t change behaviour at checkout."

The UK's biggest high street banks will soon have to start making customer information available (with an individual's permission) to third parties who will start using the data to build new products and services. The Open Banking rules, ordered by the market regulator to increase competition, will come into force from the start of 2018.