Brex, a neobank providing various services for businesses to manage their finances, has taken some heat today as Kenneth Ballenegger hammered the platform on Twitter for announcing a “massive devaluation with zero notice period of their rewards points.” Ballenegger, formerly of Republic/AngelList, is a VC at Oyster Ventures.
Brex just announced a massive devaluation with zero notice period of their rewards points. We do all our operational expenses via @brexHQ — but after this we plan on getting rid of them. They need to be punished for this absolutely awful move. Especially in the middle of a…
— Kenneth Ballenegger (@kob) March 14, 2023
Ballenegger said following the decision, they are looking elsewhere for better services. A slew of respondents pointed to alternative providers.
While Brex apparently has not publicly announced a change in services, the Fintech has made an interesting decision to move its funds from big banks to Silicon Valley Bank. Apparently in an exceptional vote of confidence, Brex has wired $200 million of its funds to the newly birthed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank.
Henrique Dubugras, Brex co-founder and co-CEO, explained in a blog post.
“Silicon Valley Bank understands the unique needs and nuances of the startup community and has played an important role in driving innovation for the last 40 years. With the unlimited FDIC insurance backstop and the criticality of the Bank to the technology ecosystem, we believe it’s safe and wise to deposit part of our funds to SVB as part of a diversification strategy.”
Dubugras added that SVB “understands the unique needs and nuances of the startup community and has played an important role in driving innovation for the last 40 years.
“With the unlimited FDIC insurance backstop and the criticality of the Bank to the technology ecosystem, we believe it’s safe and wise to deposit part of our funds to SVB as part of a diversification strategy.”