With additional investment from Cota Capital, Current is building a mobile digital bank aimed solely at families. Parents can sign up to give their teenagers their first bank account, built entirely into their mobile phone.
Thereafter they can see how their children spend their money, and top up the accounts by linking their traditional bank account to the Current app.
Founded in 2015, Current’s early development was backed by Expa and Human Ventures. The bank brought its first product – the Student Current Account, complete with banking app and debit card – to market in May this year.
Unaffiliated with any major bank, Current bank accounts are supported by its issuer, Metropolitan Commercial Bank. However when speaking to Current on this topic, AltFi has learned that the firm will be announcing another strategic investor in December later this year.
Millennials have certainly become the “it” demographic for digital banking and payments in recent years, with more and more products launching that contain tools aimed directly at recruiting a younger user base.
For example, Circle, the digital payments app, allows users under the age of 18 to submit a parental consent form to link a debit card to its platform. The focus is prevalent with incumbent banks too, as we saw JPMorgan Chase launch its first digital banking platform, Finn, for millennials this week.
Speaking to AltFi, Current’s David Lowey said: “For Current, the focus on teens was a strategic decision. We saw an opportunity to work with a customer demographic that had never been exposed to traditional banking, an untouched audience that is open to and interested in a pretty different financial experience than previous generations.”
