A GreatUniHack 2026 concept

Your bank shows yesterday. Nova shows tomorrow.

An iPhone app that predicts your spending, talks you through your money, and gets 16 and 17-year-olds ready for their first credit product. The phone on this page is a working version: switch between Adult and Teen mode and tap around.

Take the tour

Demo data for Manchester. A hackathon concept, not an official NatWest product.

Why Nova exists

Young people face two money problems.

PROBLEM ONE

The week before payday

Your bank only shows the past. Nova predicts the next seven days so you can see a squeeze coming.

PROBLEM TWO

Turning 18 with a blank credit file

At 17 you can drive, work and pay tax. At 18 the bank acts like you don't exist. It hits hardest for:

Care leaversInternational studentsNew-to-credit families

Adult mode

See it coming, every morning.

Three AI models study your spending and agree on your day. Everything is free, works with VoiceOver and uses colour-blind-friendly charts.

Home

Today's predictions

Expected spend, the weather's effect, and how many of the three models agree on each prediction.

Simulator

What if…?

Halve eating out, quit your job or move somewhere cheaper, and watch the next 12 months change.

Ask Nova

Talk about your money

Ask by text or voice. The read-aloud briefing on Home uses your device's voice here.

Insights

Seasons and weekly recap

Runway in months, your priciest season and how accurate last week's predictions were.

History

Where it went

Search every transaction, grouped by day, with spending spikes flagged.

Arena

Save with friends

Budget Guardian, Vice Streak, Savings Sprint and Most Improved, where everyone starts level.

Teen mode · from 16

Ready before eighteen.

A Readiness Score from five stats, each mirroring a real credit factor. It's a readiness score, not a credit score: it rewards habits, never money.

Readiness

Your character and score

Reliability, Balance, Endurance, Resilience and Wisdom, each 0 to 200, with ranks from Bronze to Diamond.

Nova Explorer

Play in Manchester

Walk from the Nancy Rothwell Building to Piccadilly and the Northern Quarter. Talk to people to start quests.

Money Quest

Two-minute levels

Scams, money mules, budgets and borrowing. Everyone gets the same £300 virtual budget.

Piggy Bank

Shake to hear it

The coins get louder as you get closer to your own goal, never because of the £ amount.

Family

Any trusted adult

Borrow from a parent, carer, grandparent or key worker. Every on-time pound counts, from £1.

Road to 18

The graduation path

A countdown, a checklist and a one-page Readiness Report. On your 18th, Teen mode becomes the full Nova.

Fairness check

Same habits, same score.

Two teens with the same habits and very different money, scored by the app's own rules. Teen B with poor habits scores clearly lower, which shows the score still rewards behaviour.