Challenger banks are finding their educational and budgeting tools increasingly relevant as the novel coronavirus rattles the economy.  

“This is an important time to look at monthly expenses to see where you can trim them,” said Brandon Krieg, CEO and co-founder of the investing and banking platform Stash. “We push money management tools people can use in the good times and the bad.” 

As unemployment spikes during the pandemic, many challenger bank customers are finding themselves with tightened finances. Challenger banks, which pride themselves on helping the population that lives paycheck to paycheck, must navigate the best ways to engage customers and help them through the crisis. 

In addition to budgeting, Krieg said Stash, which has gained more than 1 million banking customers since launching its banking services just over a year ago, is helping customers think about how to invest in a volatile market. He said Stash tries to help customers think long-term and avoid tactics like day trading on its investing platform. To encourage long-term investing, Stash shows customers how their money will grow if they invest over five, 10 and 20 years. The “Stash Learn” blog features articles on managing money during the pandemic and information on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. The platform also offers learning guides and a podcast.  

Stash charges a subscription fee of $1, $3 or $9, depending on tier. In addition to banking and investing, the challenger bank offers retirement accounts and custodial accounts for kids. The Stash debit card offers rewards in the form of stocks to help customers invest. The company has raised more than $189 million since its 2015 founding, according to Crunchbase.  

See also: Stash doles out 5 million ‘Stock-Back’ rewards

Dave, another budgeting and banking platform, is educating its customers through a newsletter called “Dave is Here for You,” which provides information on how to apply for unemployment and what to expect from the stimulus package.  

“[The newsletter] aggregates all the resources around COVID,” said Jason Wilk, co-founder and CEO of Dave. “We’ve had over 3 million people engage with our COVID newsletter so far.” 

Dave offers customers checking accounts, interest-free cash advances, overdraft protection, budgeting tools and channels to connect with gig economy jobs. The company, which has 120 employees, has seven employees helping with the newsletter. According to Wilk, the 4-year-old company has more than 6 million customers.  

Money Experience, an educational technology company, is offering “Essentials,” a financial literacy program, to clients for free this month. The company’s clients include educators, corporations and banks. The program, designed for consumers age 15 to 24, walks users through lifetime financial planning. Money Experience counts State Street, Northeastern University, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston as clients. 

It remains unclear, however, whether educational tools will help the surge of Americans losing their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Statistics from the Department of Labor show more than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week. As Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. financial economist at Oxford Economics, told The New York Times, it’s like “the economy as a whole has fallen into some sudden black hole.”