Banking company Dave now worth $1 billion
Two years after the Los Angeles-based fintech startup Dave launched with a suite of money management tools to save consumers from overdraft fees, the company is now worth $1 billion thanks to a nascent banking practice that had investors lining up.
The company used its overdraft protection service and money management display to shift customers' focus away from the total balance that their account would show by giving them a sense of how much was actually left in their accounts once debits were included in their statements.
"What was cool about our financial management product was that we were trying to use Dave as a replacement for their current bank," says Jason Wilk, Dave's cofounder and chief executive.
Dave now counts over 4 million users for its financial management app and has roughly 800,000 people on the waiting list to use its banking services, Wilk says.
The company has taken a methodical approach to opening its doors as a digital bank, in part because it wants to have the necessary support infrastructure in place to service the demand that Wilk expects to see for its service.
"It's one thing to help people with budgeting. It's another to actually manage their money," says Wilk. within the next 12 months, in order to double down on the core business and ensure the success of the banking product.
"We can prove that Dave can be helpful by showing how we can help you manage your current account, and then Dave banking is the marketing lever from there," says Wilk.
For now, customers need to have the financial management app installed to be able to access the company's banking service.
Dave charges $1 per month for access to its financial management tools and that also gives customers the ability to use a cushion of between $50 to $75 to avoid being hit with overdraft fees from their current bank account.
Dave asks for a tip every time a customer uses that cushion to cover expenses - something that Wilk says is still cheaper than having to worry about overdraft fees.
And, to add a bit of environmental spin, for every tip that Dave receives, the company plants a tree. "We plant millions and millions of trees," says Wilk.
The company is FDIC insured through a partner bank, the Memphis-based Evolve Bank and Trust, which acts as a backstop for the company's financial management activities.