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The much-talked-about mobile financial services start-up Movenbank has finished its initial round of fundraising.
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A former (and sometimes current) critic of banks, Brett King is hanging out his own financial services shingle
May 1
We've all got an inner rock star or accountant in us, says Brett King, chief executive of the mobile finance startup Movenbank.
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CRED is still not available to the public, but Movenbank's chief says that more than 5,000 "alpha" customers have "gotten their first taste" of how the program will work, including insights into their own spending.
"The first thing we did was a financial personality quiz. We got a flavor of how these customers behave in connection with their money," King says. "By us understanding how individual customers make those decisions differently, we can communicate with them differently."
There are a variety of spending personalities, including, for example, both accountants and rock stars, he says.
"The accountant personality, they like to have a lot more control" around their spending. That might include keeping much closer tabs on where their money is going or even setting up a so-called personal "savings tax" where the consumer automatically socks away a little bit in savings every time he makes a purchase, King says.
But "the rock star, he's really not like that," King adds, describing a more free-wheeling spender. But, King notes that "if you tell him how he's spending money, he gets an awareness of that" and can potentially adopt new habits.
By gathering information on consumer transactions and their financial history, King says, CRED will help customers avoid the hassle of filling out endless applications for new Movenbank products. It will also help the company tailor product pitches to prospective customers.
On Friday Movenbank launched a
The company also announced late Thursday that it had completed its initial round of funding with
King says he expects to have the mobile banking platform up and running for the public by early next year.
