Intel Report Digital Banking - Flipbook - Page 15
Spotify featured “Cash App” in the title as of mid-July 2021. At the same time,
Cash App had 1.2 million followers on Twitter and 1.7 million on Instagram, and
the hashtag #cashapp had more than 445 million views on TikTok.
Current
Current, likewise, has been on its own tear. Founded in 2015, it launched its first
product in 2017 with a Visa debit card for teenagers and their parents. Today, the
main source of the company’s growth is young millennials and Gen Z.
Promising no overdraft fees and paychecks up to two days early with direct deposit,
Current has attracted 3 million accounts in 2021, up from 1 million the year prior.
Adam Hadi, the fintech’s vice president of marketing, says that banks are “structurally” incapable of serving most Americans. Referring to the typical business model
where banks attract deposits from the masses and lend to the creditworthy, he says
that’s “a system by definition that can only serve a fraction of the population.”
Advertising messages on New York City subway trains reiterate that point: “We
wondered, ‘what should banks stop doing?’ and started Current.”
Current’s advertising also plays off the fact that there are no branches. “Did anyone
miss bank branches during quarantine? We rest our case,” says one ad. “You never
have to visit Current unless you want to work here,” says another.
Like Square, social media influencers have been a big part of attracting Current’s
younger clientele, with an average age of 27 and earnings of about $45,000 per
year. Current has a long-term exclusive partnership with MrBeast, a Gen Z phenomenon with 65 million subscribers on YouTube, to promote the banking app. He’s
also an investor with Current, which makes him extra motivated. As of July 2021,
MrBeast gave away $100,000 to 100,000 people on Current directly from his own
account; he also picked five people who got an additional $1,000, says Hadi.
Current uses data to make decisions about products and services. For example,
Current could see that its customers were getting hit with a lot of gas station holds
on their debit cards. For someone living paycheck to paycheck, even a $50 or $100
hold for a few hours or a few days can be damaging, Hadi says. So, Current instantly removes those holds for its premium customers.
Data, Hadi says, informs everything that the company does. “It allows us to know
what to build, what matters to folks,” he says.
Source: Current
Current’s business model has attracted investors. Although Hadi didn’t say whether
Current is profitable, he did say the platform is in growth mode. It was impressive
enough for Andreessen Horowitz to lead a $220 million Series D round for the company in April 2021, tripling its value to $2.2 billion in just five months, Hadi confirms.
DIGITAL BANKS: PROFITS AND PURPOSE | 13