MoneyLion, a digital-only challenger bank with three million members, officially launched a checking account Monday to go with its investing and personal financial management offerings.
“The mission of MoneyLion is to create the private bank for the rest of us,” said Dee Choubey, CEO, in an interview.
Like other so-called challenger banks, such as Chime, Varo Money and SoFi, MoneyLion touts lower fees and easier-to-use digital banking. (MoneyLion comes in a free version and one with a flat $29 monthly fee; the fee is for managed investing and loans that don't require a credit check.)
According to Choubey, the firm offers two things its competitors don’t — artificial intelligence-based advice and a complete array of financial services, from checking and loans to personal financial management, insurance and investments. It also supports remittances, cashback rewards, salary advances, credit monitoring, and credit cards.
“The philosophy is to rebundle the bank for a low cost, to bring value to our customers,” Choubey said. “Even the free product at MoneyLion includes banking, investing, personal loans, and secured loans.”
The company’s AI-based recommendation engine analyzes data in the customer’s banking and investment accounts and offers personalized advice about such matters as how to save to send a child to college or retire at a certain age.
“The holistic ability for accounts to speak to each other in a smart manner and for your own data to be tied together in one thread is the philosophical difference,” Choubey said. “That’s why we’ll continue to build more features that surround the customer with value on the idea that our customer lifetime value increases with each interaction we have with the user.”
MoneyLion is adding more than 200,000 accounts a month, Choubey said. The checking account was soft-launched a month ago. The FDIC-insured accounts are held at Lincoln Savings Bank. MoneyLion's other new banking products include a debit card and access to more than 55,000 ATMs.
The company’s target market, Choubey said, is those who want an easier financial relationship.
“Ninety million Americans self-identify as having a complex relationship with finances," he said. "These are folks that are working harder than Americans have ever worked before. A lot of them will have good paying jobs but they’re still in financial stress."
