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Alba

UK based challenger bank, SME focused bank, high-tech high-touch bank, relationship bank

Alba Bank is a Scottish neobank that serves SMEs and was in the mobilization phase as of December 2023. It had obtained its banking license from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK and had plans to offer savings and lending products.

Making banking work, without the paperwork

Neobanks

Alba Bank

Alba Bank is a Scottish neobank that serves SMEs and was in the mobilization phase as of December 2023. It had obtained its banking license from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the UK and had plans to offer savings and lending products.Key customers and partnershipsThe neobank partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/69490">Mambu</a> and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/120182">nCino</a> to power and streamline its lending services as well as shorten its time to market.

Brazil-based Nubank offers banking products and services via a web portal and a mobile app, with the application process being done entirely online. The company serves both B2C and B2B segments and operates in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina.The company initially entered the neobanking space in 2014 by offering credit cards and focused on providing it at low interest rates, compared to established banks. Since then, the company has grown to offer the full spectrum of banking services, which includes checking accounts, debit cards (with ATM access), credit cards (with credit limits as low as USD 10 per month), and loans, following the receipt of its own banking license in Brazil in 2017. Checking accounts and debit cards are offered free of charge, and the company therefore solely generates income from these accounts from ATM and interchange fees.In addition to its banking products, the company also offers life and mobile insurance products and Peer to Peer (P2P) payment options via Pix (a payment platform introduced by Brazil’s Central Bank). The company also offers in-app shopping at retailers such as AliExpress, Dafiti, and Magalu, as well as a rewards program that enables customers to earn and redeem points at selected merchants.Nubank also provides a trading app–NuInvest–through which its Brazilian customers can trade stocks and cryptocurrency, with the company charging ~0.02% per transaction. In addition, it launched its loyalty program, backed by its native cryptocurrency Nucoin, to customers in Brazil <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16847">in March 2023 </a>. Members will receive a fixed amount of Nucoins for every BRL spent with their debit or credit card as well as on any cryptocurrency purchases through its app. The Nucoins can be converted into cash or frozen and used to advance in the loyalty program and gain access to future incentives such as coinback rewards and lottery tickets. Moreover, Nubank was selected by the Central Bank of Brazil in August 2023, to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21164">test Drex </a>, a central bank digital currency (CBDC); the pilot phase is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.The company has also expanded its footprint to Mexico and Colombia. In Mexico, it provides both credit cards and savings accounts, however in Colombia, it only offers credit cards. It also had plans to launch digital checking accounts in Colombia by the end of 2023 after it received the Colombian banking license in August 2022.Key customers and partnerships As of February 2024, the company served more than 90 million customers, with the majority located in Brazil.The company partnered with Brazilian lending platform Creditas ( <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5565">in September 2021 </a>) to allow its customers gain access to the latter’s platform to obtain loans, and EBANX (in July 2023) to launch a new alternative payment service for international purchases called NuPay. In addition, it collaborated with insurance provider Chubb to offer <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19597">life </a>and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20948">home </a>insurance offerings on its platform.Funding and financialsIn December 2021, Nubank was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the trading symbol NJ, raising nearly USD 2.6 billion, at a valuation of USD 41.5 billion, making it the most valuable listed financial institution in South America. The fresh funds were expected to be funneled into Nubank’s expansion into Mexico and Colombia.In addition, it secured a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15777">three year USD 150 million loan </a>from the International Finance Corp (the private lending arm of the World Bank) in January 2023, to expand its operations and improve access to financial services in Colombia.For the full year 2022, the company generated a total revenue of USD 4.8 billion (up 182.2% YoY), while it incurred net losses of USD 364.6 million.

Nubank

London-based Revolut offers digital banking and lending products to both B2C and B2B segments via a web portal and mobile app. Within its B2C segment, the company offers its products under four tiers. The standard package, which is offered free of charge, enables users to open bank accounts (including joint-accounts), access personal financial management (PFM) tools, make international money transfers and payments, as well as set up bill splitting and recurring payments. The cost for packages with additional features stands between GBP 3.99 to GBP 14.99 per month (for UK customers) and includes features such as insurance, faster money transfers, and disposable virtual debit cards. In addition, Revolut launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15855">a top-tier subscription plan called Ultra </a>, priced at GBP 45 per month. This includes a variety of perks such as those centered around travel and investing. The company also expanded into the InsurTech product vertical by launching a new standalone pet insurance product.Business accounts are offered free of charge with additional features (such as multi-currency accounts, debit/credit cards, and financial management tools) being available at GBP 25-100 per month. Revolut also provides hardware for in-person payments in the UK and Ireland through its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11502">Revolut card reader. </a>It charges GBP/EUR 0.02 + 0.8% per transaction and a one-off cost or customized pricing for high-volume businesses. It also launched an online checkout payment feature ( <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12934">Revolut Pay </a>) for businesses, which can be set-up on merchant websites and mobile checkout pages via plug-ins or APIs. The company has also acquired Nobly POS (Nobly) in November 2021, a technology provider for the hospitality industry, to further strengthen its business offering. Revolut was also intending to join Irish based Synch Payments’ money transfer application in June 2022.It also launched a dedicated income, payment, and expense management account– <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13211">Revolut Pro </a>–aimed at freelancers and the self-employed. The account does not charge any monthly fees nor does it require any minimum monthly balance or deposits. In addition to business account features, it also provides a dedicated International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and a 1% cashback debit card to customers. The account can also be used for accepting payments either in-person using the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11502">Revolut Reader </a>or online with QR codes. In addition, Revolut also offers a streamlined version of its app– <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14797">Revolut Lite </a>–for customers in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, offering cross-border money transfers for free. Moreover, as an alternative to SWIFT payments, Revolut launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22016">RevTags</a> for business customers and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25792">Mobile Wallets</a> for retail individuals, offering a free cross-border payment solution.Revolut also offers a stock trading platform (launched in January 2022) to its US customers, where users can trade over 1,100 securities on the NYSE and NASDAQ, including ETFs and full and fractional shares, at zero commission. It rolled out the platform to EEA customers <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18513">in May 2023</a>, providing access to over 150 ETFs and European listed stocks. Furthermore, Revolut launched a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19814">robo-advisory platform</a> in the US (launched in June 2023), allowing consumers to automate their investments by selecting from five diverse portfolios based on their risk tolerance. It charges an annual fee of 0.25% and customers can start investing with a monthly minimum of USD 0.25. Furthermore, the robo-advisory platform was made available to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26846">EEA customers</a> in February 2024.In addition, it offers cryptocurrency trading services in the US, Singapore as well as <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12407">the European Economic Area </a>(through a regulatory approval received from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission). It also received <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13362?industryIds=59">full registration from the UK FCA </a>to offer cryptocurrency trading services in September 2022. Customers can trade over 100 individual cryptocurrencies or buy collections, which are tokens grouped based on the underlying technology and use case for each token. In addition, customers can stake their tokens within the app (limited to UK and EEA customers) and also use the Revolut Card to make payments in cryptocurrency for ecommerce and in-person purchases. Revolut had also planned to launch its own token–RevCoin, as part of its rewards program. However, it temporarily paused the launch of it in January 2023, owing to the downturn in the crypto markets. Additionally, Revolut used to offer crypto investments in the US but suspended it owing to an uncertain and stricter regulatory environment in September 2023.As of July 2023, the company operated in Europe, the UK, US, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and New Zealand. Furthermore, it had plans to roll out its services in India. It was granted a full banking license for its operations in the European Union by the European Central Bank (ECB) in December 2021 and a Direct Credit Society (SCD) license by the Central Bank of Brazil in May 2024. In addition, the company has also applied for banking licenses in the UK (in January 2021) and the US (in March 2021) to expand its product offerings in these markets.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2023, the company served ~35 million retail customers across 38 countries. The UK remains Revolut’s largest market, with over 6.8 million customers, followed by Romania (2.8 million customers), Poland (2.5 million) and France (2.2 million).The company partnered with payments infrastructure provider Stripe, to facilitate payments across Europe and the UK, with plans to extend the partnership to Brazil and Mexico. The two companies were also seeking additional opportunities to collaborate. The company also collaborated with Upvest, a FinTech infrastructure provider, to launch a trading platform for its customers in the EEA. Upvest was responsible for the brokerage, settlement, and custody infrastructure, as well as obtaining regulatory permissions through its German licenses. Revolut also offers auto insurance in Ireland in partnership with AIG.Funding and financialsIn July 2021, the company raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5556">USD 800 million in Series E </a>funding co-led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global at a valuation of USD 33 billion. Revolut has planned to use the funding to expand its geographical presence, particularly in the US and India, and develop new products.In 2022, Revolut recorded revenue of USD 1.1 billion (GBP 923 million), up 45% YoY, while its net profit declined 78% YoY to USD 6.9 million (GBP 5.8 million).

Revolut

Avant provides personal loans and credit cards to consumers via a web portal. The company focuses on providing loans to underserved segments of the market, which include customers with ‘fair’ or ‘bad’ credit scores who are typically not able to gain access to loans and other forms of credit from traditional financial institutions. Applications for loans are completed online to make the process more accessible and convenient to individuals. The company does not possess its own banking license; instead, the company uses its credit products under the license of WebBank and operates in the US, Canada, and the UK.The company expanded its offering to launch digital banking solutions in December 2021 which include Avant Banking’s offerings include spending accounts (with no minimum balance required), debit cards, and ACH transfers, under the banking license of Evolve Bank &amp; Trust. Avant also allows users with direct deposits to access payday funds up to two days early, along with virtual cards that can be added to Apple Wallet or Google Pay. Avant does not charge fees for account maintenance or foreign transactions.Avant requires a minimum annual income of USD 20,000 to gain approval for a loan. The company’s clientele largely comprises middle-class individuals with annual household incomes in the range of USD 40,000-100,000. Loans approved by the company range between USD 2,000-35,000, with monthly repayment plans of 2-5 years. Given the high-risk nature of the company’s clientele, interest rates charged on loans tend to be on the higher side, with the lowest rate starting at 9.95% APR (Annual Percentage Rate). The company also provides credit cards with credit limits between USD 300-1,000.The company also uses an in-house formula for calculating credit risk, which the company claims has been more useful than traditional credit scoring methods such as FICO credit scores which are based on a limited number of variables. The company’s formula uses machine learning algorithms and other big data techniques to gather additional data and analyzes about 10,000 variables to determine an individual’s credit score; it also claims that it can predict the likelihood of a customer defaulting on a loan with 57% better accuracy than FICO scores alone.In April 2021, the company acquired Zero Financial, a mobile banking developer, along with its Neobank operations (Level). The acquisition was intended to aid Avant in expanding its product portfolio to provide digital banking solutions to its customers.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2022, the company served over three million customers and had issued more than one million credit cards.Funding and financialsAvant secured <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15154">USD 250 million in corporate debt and redeemable preferred equity </a>from Ares Management’s Alternative Credit funds in December 2022. It had planned to use the fresh funds to expand its credit portfolio and platform.The company generated a total revenue of USD 265 million in 2020. As of December 2022, the company is reported to have provided around USD 8 billion worth of loans.

Avant

Chime provides banking services to its customers via a web portal and a mobile app. The company provides no-fee mobile banking solutions, and offers savings accounts, checking accounts, and debit cards (with ATM access) to its customers. The company does not provide loans and does not charge monthly, foreign exchange, or overdraft fees (for transactions up to USD 200), and therefore primarily generates its revenue from interchange and ATM fees. The company claims that accounts can be created in as little as two minutes, and uses video identification to verify an individual’s identity. The company does not impose minimum balance requirements and mainly focuses on serving individuals who earn between USD 30,000-75,000 per year.In June 2020, the company entered the credit card space by launching ‘CreditBuilder’. Despite being introduced as a credit card, the card has similar functionality to a debit card, which allows users to transfer funds from their checking accounts, and spend up to the transferred amount where Visa is accepted, reducing the tendency to overspend. At month’s end, CreditBuilder automatically pays off the credit card balance using the transferred funds and reports the payment to credit bureaus. The CreditBuilder card is primarily targeted at millennials and Gen Z customers, to aid in developing and building up their credit history.Key customers and partnershipsChime stands as the largest Neobank in the digital banking space in the US, with 12 million customers (reported as of February 2021). The company does not own its own banking license and provides its services under the licenses of Bancorp Bank and Stride Bank.Funding and financialsIn September 2020, the company raised USD 533.8 million in Series F funding backed by multiple investors such as Tiger, ICONIQ, and General Atlantic. In August 2021, the company raised a further USD 750 million, led by Sequoia Capital Global Equities, at a valuation of USD 25 billion. The funding is expected to be used to scale operations and expand its business reach. The latest round of funding is also expected to set the stage for a potential IPO in the future.In January 2022, Reuters reported that Chime was to go public led by investment bank Goldman Sachs. Reports say that the company could aim for a valuation of almost USD 40 billion, which could be launched as early as Spring 2022. However, the company paused its IPO aspirations following the downturn in the IPO market.The company claims that revenue and transaction volumes witnessed threefold growth between January and September 2020, owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the same period, the company also stated that it was able to become profitable on an EBITDA basis.

Chime

London-based Starling Bank offers banking products for both the B2C and B2B segments via a web portal and mobile app, and operates under its own banking license.The bank’s B2C segment offers current accounts, debit cards and personal overdrafts. The current accounts are provided free of charge, and customers also benefit from free ATM withdrawals and transaction fees when abroad. In addition, Starling offers teen bank accounts for 16- and 17-year-olds, and also allows parents to create debit cards for children aged 6–16 that are linked to their individual current account. Customers can also create up to five virtual cards that are linked to “Saving Spaces,” which are separate accounts for specific savings or expenses that are not connected to a customer’s main account. If a Space budget is used up, the virtual card will be declined instead of drawing funds from a customer’s main account.Its B2B segment provides free business accounts primarily targeted at SMEs, which includes features such as fixed savings, overdraft facilities, and business loans. Additionally, Starling offers multi-currency accounts for individuals (euros) for free, while it charges GBP 2 and GBP 5 per month for Euro and US dollar businesses accounts, respectively. It also offers international money transfer services to 38 different countries at a 0.4% transfer fee and a fixed delivery fee of GBP 5.50. Starling Bank also offers Bills Manager features for personal accounts and small business accounts, which allows users with direct debit or standing order options and streamline and record finances that also automatically sync with other accounting tools such as Xero and FreeAgent provided through the Starling Marketplace. It also introduced a subscription-based Business Toolkit feature to support payroll, tax and supplier payments, which cost GBP 7 per month.The company has also developed a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform called <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20982">Engine</a>. It is an all-in-one platform licensed to other banks to develop their own digital banking services such as checking accounts, savings, loans, and mortgages, rather than building the capabilities from scratch. The company was to use Engine as an alternative to expand internationally rather than launching its own retail bank.In July 2021, Starling Bank acquired buy-to-let mortgage lender Fleet Mortgages in a cash and equity deal of GBP 50 million (~USD 68 million), with plans to leverage its lending operations to enter the mortgage sector, becoming the first entirely digital bank in the UK to do so. The acquisition (its first) is in line with the bank’s strategy to expand its line of credit products through strategic forward-flow arrangements, organic lending, and targeted M&amp;A activity. In November 2021, Starling Bank purchased the mortgage book worth around GBP 1 billion (~USD 1.3 billion) from Kensington Mortgages. This was followed by the purchase of another loan book worth roughly GBP 500 million (~USD 607 million) from the defunct UK-based banked Masthaven in a bid to diversify its portfolio beyond government-backed Covid-19 loans, which accounted for GBP 1.9 billion (92.5%) of its GBP 2.0 billion SME loan book as of March 2022.Key customers and partnershipsAs of <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15551?industryIds=59">January 2023</a>, Starling Bank served nearly 3.4 million customers (both B2C and B2B), which includes ~520,000 SME accounts representing 8.9% of the UK SME banking market according to the company.Funding and financialsIn April 2022, Starling Bank raised GBP 130.5 million (USD 164.4 million) in funding from existing investors such as Fidelity Management and Goldman Sachs. The company aimed to use the funds to support growth and explore more acquisition opportunities.In FY2022 (ending 31 March 2022), Starling Bank’s total income grew 114% YoY to GBP 188 million (USD 259 million), primarily due to an increase in net interest income of 123% YoY to GBP 122 million. It reported its first year of profitable operations with a net profit of GBP 44.9 million in FY2022. The bank’s capitalization ratio (CET1) dipped to ~40% from ~48% in FY2021, while its liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) improved to 513% from 506% over the same period. Its profitability (Return on Tangible Equity - pre-tax) was 9.31% in FY2022.

Starling Bank

AI/ML is used to process applications, analyze spending habits, and assess creditworthiness

Digital banking (specialized) (B2C) segment caters to underbanked and minority groups

Open banking is an enabler for the neobanking industry

Platforms offering digital checking and savings accounts that target businesses and freelancers

Alba Bank

Neobanks

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Alba Bank selects nCino cloud banking platform to streamline lending process

Alba Bank selects Mambu’s cloud banking platform to manage its SME lending capabilities

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