Step, a mobile banking app designed for families and teens, has closed its Series A on $22.5m.
Payments processor Stripe led the investment, with participation also coming from Will Smith’s Dreamers fund, Crosslink Capital, Collaborative Fund and Sesame Ventures. A number of angels also participated in the round.
The platform was announced earlier in the year and in this period more than 500,000 people have joined the waitlist.
Proceeds from this round will support new hires better prepare Step for customer demand.
Step, which has partnered with Mastercard, Stripe and Evolve, hopes its solution will be a teen’s first spending card and bank account. Its co-branded Mastercard is accepted around the world, enabling teens to make card payments, and educating them on the market.
The card is linked to a mobile app which supports money transfers, online hoping and digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay. The
Step gives consumes a current account which boasts a deposit interest at 2.5 per cent with round-up savings capabilities in an FDIC-insured account of up to $250,000.
Some of the other perks of Step include access to 350,000 ATMs across the US, controlled spending limits to stop fraud, real-time budgeting tools, and ability to send and receive money instantly via a mobile. Parents can also have control over the app, implementing limits and guidelines to improve a teen’s financial knowledge – parents get full visibility on spending.
Mastercard EVP digital partnerships, North America Sherri Haymond said, “Today’s young people are digitally savvy, having grown up with technology as a mainstay in their day-to-day lives. As a result, we also need to ensure that they become familiar with the unique aspects of digital payments including providing education about the various finance and payment products available.
“Step has taken a thoughtful approach to developing an offering for teens and families that provides that first step in educating and acclimating today’s youth to help them gain confidence and awareness around their finances.”
A beta test for Step recently began among ‘friends and family’ A widespread commercial launch has been set for Autumn.
