The topic of banks vs. Fintech firms has been “another hot one as of late,” the team at Fintech Current notes in an update while adding that with court rulings, the questioning of banking execs on Capitol Hill has been ongoing. And, if you have been in New York City recently, you’ve most likely noticed the launch of Current’s aggressive marketing campaign during your commute, the company writes in a blog post shared with CI earlier this week.
Current wants to set the record straight. The Fintech says:
“To be clear and upfront, Current is NOT a bank. We’re better. We first addressed this topic last fall, when we announced we had no plans to pursue a bank charter, and the differences between a fintech like Current and traditional banks have only become clearer over the past year.”
Current also mentions in its blog post that they have “never been, nor do we have any plans to, become a bank.” The Fintech challenger adds that they are quite focused on “building the best, most innovative technology that can solve real problems for our members and enable them to change their lives through working with our partner banks to provide banking services.”
According to Current, it’s “a win-win relationship when we each focus on what we’re good at.”
The company further notes that as anyone in New York City can clearly see on billboards, on the subway, or as a bus or taxi cab, we “wondered ‘What should banks stop doing?’ and that’s the premise on which we founded Current back in 2015.”
Current points out that the Chief Execs of four of the largest banks in the world testified to Congress at the end of May 2021, during which it was noted that the four banks had “charged customers a combined $4 billion in overdraft fees in 2020.” Clients who earn less than $50,000, African-Americans, and Hispanics were “the most likely to have been hit with these fees,” Current claims.
While sharing the “Current difference” (strategy), the Fintech challenger notes:
“In 2020, Current SAVED its nearly 3 million members over $100 million in overdraft fees. No Current member is ever charged an overdraft fee, and our premium members are eligible for up to $100 in free overdraft.”
Current further reveals that most of its members make about $45,000 per year so when banking with incumbents, they’re “more likely to have been hit with exorbitant overdraft fees (and others, such as minimum balance requirements),” the company claims.
Current writes in its blog post:
“In short, people can end up OWING banks money FOR running out of money. We don’t believe in that at Current and never will.”
While commenting further on the “big banks,” the Current team adds:
“A record number of net closures of U.S. banks and thrifts happened in 2020, with over 3,300 branches closing (to just over 1,000 opening). Highly populated states like New York, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey had the most, with more than 100 each (and more than 200 in NY and California).”
While sharing how the Current difference can help, the company says that it saw an “acceleration to digital banking.” Current confirms that they have now doubled their member base in “less than six months in 2020.” Current further reveals that as of June 2021, the service provider has “nearly three million members to just one million a year ago. If anything, 2020 proved bank branches aren’t necessary.”
The Fintech firm also notes that if you are a sports fan, then you might have seen or at least heard about boxing legend Floyd Mayweather fighting social media sensation Logan Paul on Sunday night in an exhibition bout.
However, if you looked closely when Paul came into the ring, you’d see “a familiar logo on his robe,” Current notes while adding that “not only did we sponsor Paul for the fight, we also sponsored his pre-fight video and enabled him to give away $10,000 to his fans on Current.”
As noted by the Current:
“Creator partnerships are core to who we are at Current and we’re thrilled to be able to provide the platform for today’s most relevant digital media stars to interact directly with their fans and create original content.”