Among the many services they offer, banks are first and foremost money depositories — convenient places to stash and retrieve cash. These days, with all sorts of ways to navigate the digital space, banks and financial institutions are making wealth access easier than ever with financial technology, or fintech.
Fintech in Banking
From entirely mobile banks and payments between friends to AI-enhanced chatbots and anti-money laundering software, check out how these fintech banks and services are bringing the banking industry into the digital age.
Fintech Neobanks
Neobanks operate digitally, providing basic banking services without any physical branches. These digital financial companies are taking cues from traditional big banks in terms of “what not to do” while offering financial services that cost consumers less. That means, for example, fewer fees and more transparency. These fintech companies are changing the way people save, bank, budget and spend their money.
Headquarters: New York, New York
Current provides consumers with digital banking services, allowing them to access tools for crypto trading, saving and building their credit from their mobile device. Users can get their paycheck up to days early by setting up direct deposit with their Current account, and they can take advantage of more than 40,000 ATMs they can take money out of without fees.
Headquarters: New York, New York
Cash App is a financial services platform where users can send, receive and manage money. Along with facilitating financial transactions, Cash App also allows users to hold money in savings accounts, process payments via debit cards, invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies, file taxes and access personal loans.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Chime is an online-only fintech company that offers fee-free banking, eliminating the overdraft fees, monthly service charges and minimum balance requirements many traditional banks impose. Along with providing checking and savings accounts, Chime offers credit-building tools, high-yield savings accounts and Chime Prime, a membership tier offering cash back, APY on savings and priority support.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
GreenFi is a climate-focused fintech startup that offers eco-friendly checking, high-yield savings and investment accounts in partnership with Coastal Community Bank. The company helps users grow their money and earn cash back while guaranteeing that customer deposits will not fund fossil fuels, allowing members to plant trees when they spend and offset vehicle emissions.
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
Dave is a neobank offering checking and goals accounts, budgeting tools, financial goal tracking and a Mastercard debit card with no overdraft or minimum balance fees. Beyond banking management, Dave also provides ExtraCash advances and a Side Hustle job network connecting users to income opportunities.
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
SoFi is a digital-first financial platform that offers a comprehensive suite of lending, banking, investing and insurance products. As a neobank, SoFi provides checking and savings accounts, investment tools, insurance services and loan refinancing (including student loans, mortgages and auto loans).
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Varo Bank is a neobank that offers checking and savings accounts, cash advances, credit-building tools and peer-to-peer payments with no monthly fees, overdraft fees or minimum balance requirements. The neobank provides access to thousands of fee-free ATMs across the United States and free cash deposits at CVS locations, while its app features cash flow tracking and budgeting tools.
Artificial Intelligence Fintech
Mobile banking is flexible, easy and a time-saver. Some fintech banks go above and beyond, offering virtual assistants to make the mobile experience even simpler. From text- and voice-enabled payments to fraudulent alerts and credit score notifications, virtual assistants are already enhancing the relatively new world of mobile banking.
Headquarters: Detroit, Michigan
Ally Financial operates Ally bank, a digital banking platform offering checking and savings accounts as well as lending and investment services. Ally Assist, its AI-powered virtual assistant, enables customers to handle payments, transfers, deposits and account inquiries through both text and voice interaction.
Headquarters: McLean, Virginia
Eno, Capital One’s intelligent assistant, is a virtual helper that lets users text questions, receive fraud alerts and take care of banking tasks. Users can pay credit cards, track account balances and view available credit and checking transactions all within their smart phone’s message application.
Eno communicates like human users do (emojis and all) while keeping information safe and easily accessible. It also allows users to ask basic questions and find quick information on the fly without having to log into their mobile app.
Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Adyen builds fintech software to improve efficiency for client businesses, offering a platform that combines end-to-end payments, embedded financial products and data-driven insights. The company’s banking infrastructure enables businesses to embed business account capabilities, payments and financial services — including cash advances, accounts and card issuing — directly into their applications without building from scratch.
Security and Fraud Detection Fintech
In an online-centric age rife with innovations, hackers and identity thieves are constantly at work scamming and phishing their way into bank accounts and compromising personal information. Some anti-fraud efforts, like the EMV chip on credit cards, have cut down on card cloning, but there’s still a long way to go.
These companies, among many others, are striving to make mobile and online banking safer.
Headquarters: San Mateo, California
Feedzai is an AI-native financial crime prevention platform that unifies fraud and anti-money laundering defense across the entire customer lifecycle. The company’s RiskOps platform helps retail and commercial banks, payment providers and fintechs detect and prevent account takeover, transaction fraud, new account fraud and money laundering at scale.
Traditional Banks With a Digital Presence
Headquarters: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The PNC Financial Services Group provides banking services for individuals, small businesses and corporations and other institutions. The company has a substantial network of retail branches, as well as a mobile app for online banking. Mobile users can manage their accounts, deposit checks, pay bills and send and receive money. Other digital banking services include text and email alerts and voice banking to access information and services over the phone.
Headquarters: New York, New York
Narmi enables community banks and credit unions to apply modern digital banking experiences for users. The company’s suite — including consumer and business account opening, digital banking, instant payments via FedNow, fraud prevention and AI-powered capabilities — layers on top of existing banking infrastructure to provide features traditionally available only to megabanks.
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is one of the 12 Regional Reserve Banks in the United States. The bank offers central bank services, community education, national and regional economic research, district bank supervision and customer support. More specifically, consumers can report complaints, learn financial terms and review federal policies.
Headquarters: Arlington, Massachusetts
Leader Bank provides personal and business banking solutions through its branch network, mortgage offices, ATM locations and digital channels. The bank offers businesses digital escrow accounts, cash management services and commercial lending, while providing consumers with checking and savings accounts, safe deposit boxes and more financial services.
Headquarters: Singapore
Airwallex provides a global financial platform to businesses ranging from startups to public enterprises. Customers use Airwallex to manage their global banking and financial operations. It builds financial infrastructure and software that help businesses collect payments, hold and manage multi-currency funds, control spend and move money across borders more efficiently. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore.
