American financial technology company
Current (Finco Services, Inc.) is an American financial services and software development company (FinTech) based in New York City. It provides mobile banking services through its partner bank, Choice Financial Group.
Current was founded by Stuart Sopp at June 2015. In 2020, the "Wall Street Journal" reported a valuation of $750 million, and reported that Current "is the latest beneficiary of this trend [toward mobile consumer banking]".
Current has no physical branches. As of 2022[ [update]], Current had over 4 million account holders. Account-holders are issued Visa debit cards and have access to an online banking system accessible via the mobile app for Android or iOS.
Like competitors Chime and Square, it was also the beneficiary of the 2020 COVID pandemic, which drove consumers away from brick-and-mortar alternatives. As of April 2021, its valuation stands at $2.2 billion.
History.
Stuart Sopp founded Current in 2015 in New York City to provide alternative banking services to traditional banks.
Current's first product, a debit card for teens controlled by parents, launched in May 2017.
Current launched its personal accounts for adults in February 2019, which featured early access to wages with direct deposit, fee-free overdraft (up to $200), no minimum balance requirements, and instant removals of gas holds that stations put on debit cards.
In 2020, Current became the first U.S. based consumer fintech to launch a points reward system based on debit, which allows its members to earn points redeemable for cash back in their Current accounts, for purchases at over 14,000 merchants nationwide, including national retailers such as Subway, Cold Stone Creamery, and Rite Aid, as well as thousands of local retailers.
In January 2022, Current launched a 4% APY savings product.
In October 2022, Current launched crypto trading without fees in partnership with Zero Hash, giving its over four million members access to buy and sell dozens of coins on its platform without paying trading fees and with instant liquidity from trades. Also in October 2022, Current announced it was now doing its own processing directly with Visa.
Growth and development.
Account growth.
By December 2022, Current had over four million accounts.
Other milestones included nearly three million accounts in April 2021, two million accounts in November 2022 (doubling its member base in less than six months), and one million accounts in June 2020, less than a year and half after launching its personal accounts.
Starting in April, Current added over 100,000 new members each month in 2020.
Current reached as high as the No. 8 ranking in the iOS app store in the Financial Services category.
Operations.
Business model.
Current has no physical branch locations and does not charge overdraft fees or have a minimum balance requirement. Account holders are issued Visa debit cards and have access to Current's online banking system via its mobile app for iOS or Android.
Current has a spend-based business model, earning revenue from interchange. Current Accounts have no monthly account fees.
Patents.
On December 12, 2019, the company applied for patent 16424341 / 20190378121, "Cryptographic Technology Platform And Methods For Providers To Enable Users To Monetize Their Data" that would cryptographically give end-users, i.e., customers, an option to maintain complete personal data privacy or opt to monetize all or part of it.
FDIC Insurance.
Current banking accounts are insured up to the standard maximum deposit insurance amount of $250,000 through its partner bank, Choice Financial Group a member of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Current announced it had no plans at the present time to pursue its own bank charter in October 2020.
Response to Covid-19 Pandemic.
In April 2020, Current was the first neobank to receive government stimulus payments for its customers under the CARES Act, and used its own balance sheet to credit all member accounts immediately, which was five days faster than most incumbent banks.
A few days later, Current announced most of the stimulus funds were being used on food, groceries, gas and day-to-day living costs. Over 45 percent of the first funds were spent within five days.
In December 2020 and March 2021, Current was again the first neobank to credit government stimulus payments, receiving and crediting the funds just hours after the Treasury Secretary announced their distribution, using its own balance sheet to credit the funds for all member accounts immediately.
References.
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