Published:
Nov 16, 2024
Author:
Sarah Parsons Wolter
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For the first time, just 4% of U.S. households are unbanked, according to the FDIC’s latest survey. This record low – down from a peak of 8.2% in 2011 – marks a significant milestone in financial inclusion. Over the past decade, an estimated 5.3m households gained access to bank accounts, driven largely by rising income and educational attainment. Yet, despite this progress, 5.6m households remain outside the banking system, with minority, low-income, and single-parent households disproportionately affected.
Technology continues to reshape how Americans engage with their banks. Nearly half of banked households now use mobile banking as their primary access point – a ninefold increase over the past decade. At the same time, while in-person teller use has declined, it remains a crucial service for certain groups, particularly lower-income and older households.
This record-low unbanked rate is a milestone worth celebrating, but it’s also a reminder of the work left to do. The goal isn’t just progress – it’s ensuring every household has access to financial services. Surely if we’re taking AI chatbots on cabin retreats to see if they can become friends with one another, we can figure out how to bank the rest of America.
Portfolio News
Dubai fintech company Pemo raises $7m for its spend management platform - Congratulations to FTC portfolio company Pemo on the announcement of their $7m funding round, co-led by Shorooq Partners and Augmentum Fintech. The round follows its $12m Seed round in April 2022, which was backed by Cherry Ventures, Shorooq, FinTech Collective, and others. The funding comes at a strategic time as UAE businesses adapt to the recent introduction of corporate income tax, with Pemo’s automated tools helping companies maintain compliance and streamline operations. Read more
NYDIG: Bitcoin to be ‘political imperative,’ owning none ‘a liability’ - Bitcoin will gain political importance following Donald Trump and the Republicans’ United States election wins — and investors who don’t own the cryptocurrency can no longer ignore it, according to the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). Read more
Leading crypto tax software provider, CoinLedger, announces strategic expansion into UK - Investors and cryptocurrency users in the UK can now use the platform to automate all of their capital gains, losses, and income tax reporting in accordance with UK tax laws. By syncing their wallets to CoinLedger, UK users can now automatically import and account for their historical transactions across all of their crypto platforms. From here, they can generate the relevant local tax forms with the click of a button. Read more
Constrafor launches disaster relief effort for hurricane-affected communities - The Disaster Relief Effort, working alongside the company's Early Pay Program (EPP), offers essential financial support to contractors in affected areas. This initiative aims to help contractors avoid additional financial burdens, enabling them to overcome delays, purchase materials, and ensure timely payment for their team. Read more
MoneyLion CEO: Checkout extends our evolution from neobank to financial services marketplace - CEO Dee Choubey explained how MoneyLion is on its way to becoming the place “mass market” consumers visit when they need a variety of financial services products, including insurance, investments, credit and bank accounts. The company is taking a page from eCommerce giants to make those services easy to discover and “check out.” Read more
The Final 4%
Amount of 'unbanked' Americans hits a record low - The percentage of US households lacking access to a checking account is now at a record low, but minorities still have a weaker connection to the American banking system than white households do. Those were among the findings of a new FDIC report this week that found roughly 5.6m households were “unbanked”, accounting for 4.2% of all households or 1 in 25. Read more
2023 FDIC national survey of unbanked and underbanked households - 95.8% of U.S. households – representing about 128m households – were banked in 2023, meaning at least one member of the household had a checking or savings account at a bank. Read more
24 hours in the woods with AI chatbots: Can they be real friends? - WSJ reporter Joanna Stern strapped Meta AI, Google Gemini, OpenAI ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to a tripod and took them to a cabin in the woods to test their skills as helpers – and as friends. Read more
Industry News
Klarna files long-awaited plans for American IPO - Klarna released half-year earnings in August showed revenues up 27% and its adjusted profits climbing to $66m, versus an adjusted loss of $45m during the same period last year. The company has said the U.S. is its largest market in terms of revenue. Klarna’s IPO plans come as BNPL options continue to grow in popularity in the U.S. Read more
Coinbase acqui-hires Utopia Labs team - Coinbase is acquiring the team behind Utopia, a stablecoin and payments startup that pivoted away from its core product last year, the company tells Axios exclusively. Stablecoins are experiencing a resurgence in interest from investors and companies, with this deal right on the heels of Stripe agreeing to acquire Bridge last month. Read more
Argentine star fintech Ualá wins fresh funding from Allianz and Alan Howard - Argentine fintech Ualá has raised $300m in one of the largest fundraising rounds for a start-up in Latin America in recent years. The latest fundraising takes Ualá, which launched in 2017 and now has 8m customers and banking licenses in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, to a valuation of $2.75b. Read more
Visa and Tencent to launch pay-by-palm solution in Singapore - During the pilot program, participants will enroll at the merchant’s point of sale by tapping their Visa card, scanning their palm and completing a one-time authentication, according to the release. By completing that one-time enrollment, a Visa payment token will be bound to the biometric template of their palm. In the future, they will be able to make payments to participating merchants by just waving their palm. Read more
PayPal begins rollout of ‘pool money’ feature for shared expenses - This Pool Money feature is likely to be used for shared expenses like group gifts, travel and special events, according to the release. To use the feature, PayPal customers set up a pool in the app or online, at no cost; invite friends and family to contribute, whether they have a PayPal account or not; track group contributions; and then transfer the funds to their PayPal balance to spend or withdraw. Read more
UK to spell out crypto plans as startups eye US Trump benefits - The Treasury is planning two pieces of legislation on stablecoins, and a carve-out sought by crypto providers to exclude so-called staking services from current financial regulation, people familiar with the matter said. Read more
FBI seizes Polymarket CEO’s phone, electronics - FBI agents raided the Manhattan apartment of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan early Wednesday — just a week after the election betting platform accurately predicted Donald Trump’s stunning victory. However, Coplan was not arrested and has not been charged. Read more
VC firms and tech startups face growing pressure for liquidity. Enter private equity - Tech as a percentage of total PE deal value was 28.3% in the third quarter, up from 18.7% in the second, as buyers and sellers had an easier time agreeing on prices. Capital was cheaper, and PE buyers could pay a little more, and looking forward, private-equity buyers may broaden their interests beyond the highest-quality targets that were evident in the third quarter. Read more
Select Financings
Agicap - France based cash flow management startup raised €45m in Series C funding led by AVP. Read more
Arphie - San Francisco based RFP response company raised $2.9m in Seed funding led by GC. Read more
BetHog - Decentralized crypto casino raised $6m in Seed funding led by 6MV. Read more
Big xyt - London based data analytics company for financial markets raised €10m in new funding led by Finch Capital. Read more
Bluespine - New York based health claims analysis software provider for self-insured employers raised $7.2m in Seed funding led by Team8. Read more
Brevis Network - Decentralized zero-knowledge proof co-processor raised $7.5m in Seed funding led by Polychain Capital and Binance Labs. Read more
Cometa - Mexico based payments platform for education raised $12m in new funding led by Reach Capital. Read more
Craftt - New York based workforce benefits platform raised $2m in Seed funding led by Superscrypt. Read more
Eidon AI - Decentralized Web3 AI firm raised $3.5m in Seed funding led by Framework Ventures. Read more
Equal - India based identity verification and fraud prevention startup raised $10m in Series A funding led by Prosus Ventures. Read more
Folks Finance - Decentralized cross-chain platform raised $3.2m in Series A funding led by Borderless Capital. Read more
Lean Technologies - Saudi Arabia based fintech infrastructure for data-sharing between bank accounts and applications raised $67.5m in Series B funding led by General Catalyst. Read more
Modifi - Berlin based SME-focused digital trade finance platform raised $15m in new funding led by SMBC. Read more
Neo Financial - Canada based neobank raised C$110m in Series D funding led by Valar Ventures. Read more
Notabene - New York based crypto compliance startup raised $14.5m in Series B funding led by DRW VC. Read more
NovoPayment - Miami based banking infrastructure startup raised $20m in new funding from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. Read more
Ooodles - UK based IT procurement company raised $2.7m in new funding led by Altitude VC. Read more
Pharos - Decentralized layer-1 blockchain developer raised $8m in Seed funding led by Lightspeed Faction. Read more
Pond - Decentralized crypto startup building a decentralized AI model layer raised $7.5m in Seed funding led by Archetype. Read more
Prelude - Paris based maker of a fraud-resistant SMS verification API raised $8m in Seed funding led by Singular and Seedcamp. Read more
Satispay - Italy based payments company raised €60m in new funding led by Greyhound Capital. Read more
TAC - Decentralized network extension for The Open Network (TON) raised $6.5m in Seed funding led by Hack VC and Symbolic Capital. Read more
Tako - Brazil based payroll startup raised $13.2m in Seed funding led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Read more
Tranched - London based startup connecting originators of credit products and institutional investors raised $3.4m in pre-Seed funding led by Speedinvest. Read more
Trolley - Canada based payouts platform raised $23m in Series B funding led by Wavecrest Growth Partners. Read more
Ualá - Argentina based consumer bank raised $300m in Series E funding led by Allianz X. Read more
Zeplyn - New York based AI assistant for financial advisors raised $3m in Seed funding led by Leo Capital. Read more
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