Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash
Banking used to be something done in the real world. People would go to their banks to withdraw money, transfer funds, and sort out their finances. But technology has now enabled us to access our accounts on phones and computers and even transfer, deposit, or withdraw money without walking into a bank building.
Now a new crop of financial technology (fintech) firms is on the rise, and rewriting the narrative for millions of users. Referred to as Neobanks in the U.S. and “challenger banks” in the U.K., these fintech banks have no physical presence, offering digital-only and hassle-free banking with low- or no-fee service. The most popular Neobank in the U.S. is Chime, which has over 12 million customers. In the U.K., Revolut is the leader. Altogether, there are around 256 Neobanks worldwide.