London-based Sync., a bank account aggregation and personal financial management service established by Ricky Lee, who’s Revolut’s former head of product design and strategy, has secured £5.5 million through a seed funding round as the company plans to further expand its operations into European.
Sync. describes itself as the “world’s first smartbank.” The company provides an all-in-one hub that lets customers open a Sync. account within minutes. They’re also able to connect with all of their other financial accounts and payment cards.
Customers can use Sync. to exchange around 30 different currencies between their financial accounts. There’s also an option to send funds abroad, while being able to access various “smart” budgeting and spending tools and features. Sync comes with an in-app marketplace of third-party services as well.
The Sync. accounts come with a Mastercard card which automatically generates a unique CVC number through the app. This allows customers to use the card to purchase items online in a secure manner. It’s also possible to use the card to make ATM withdrawals, perform contactless payments, and swipe to complete transactions. The platform supports international or online payment functionalities which may be turned on and off directly from the app.
The firm’s management noted that they’ve been testing the account features with the help of early beta users. The company claims that it has signed up around 37,000 users so far to its waitlist, as they’ve expressed an interest in using the app. The app may now be downloaded by new users from the Apple App store or Google Play.
Before joining the founding team at Revolut, Lee was working at Lloyds Bank where he was in charge of the institution’s UX/UI department.
Lee told Altfi:
“We’ve basically built the product, now we just have to finalize the details. More than anything, we need the money for growth. We currently have 31 employees, but we want to see that number closer to 60, or even higher, by the end of the year. We’ve only just closed this round but we’re already looking to do a Series A.”
