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Challenger NorthOne launches with digital finance toolkit for small business

Rick MorganbyRick Morgan
August 27, 2019
in Banking, Strategy
Reading Time: 3 mins read
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As a slew of foreign challenger banks take aim at the U.S. market, Toronto-based NorthOne has launched a banking offering targeting the small business segment.

According to Eytan Bensoussan, co-founder and CEO of NorthOne, the company is pitching itself to customers as a way to eliminate the need for back-office accounting. “We spent time with a small army of accountants asking them, ‘What are some of the biggest things that create risk for your clients?'” he said. “They said there are very often situations where they forget to put away money for taxes. All of a sudden tax day comes, they don’t have the capital and they start incurring fines; it’s the beginning of the end.”

Founded in 2016, NorthOne is differentiating from competitors through personal finance features reminiscent of consumer-focused challenger banks. It’s transferring businesses’ incoming cash into categories like taxes, payroll, big purchases and rent. It’s a value proposition that resembles personal finance tools launched by other challenger banks like N26’s savings envelopes called Spaces and Monzo’s goals-based savings envelopes called Pots.

The NorthOne app and card

NorthOne’s account includes mobile check deposits, in-app money transfers and the ability to lock cards from the app. It offers cash flow and spending analysis, as well as a network of fee-free ATMs. Fees are based on the number of transactions a company processes, starting at $10 per month for 20 or less transactions and capping at $50 for more than 45 transactions.

Other digital-only small business banks focus on tech startups but, through NorthOne’s mobile check deposit and ATM cash deposit features, Bensoussan said it’s aiming for a larger swath of small businesses. “The focus for us is the 40 million small businesses that don’t exist in the startup bubble,” he said. “We serve them as well, but the real focus would be a hairdresser who wishes to get all [of their banking] done on an app.”

NorthOne is only available in the U.S. for now, and its banking partner is Boston-based Radius Bank. Radius, which has more than $1.3 billion in assets and just one branch, operates nationally through its digitally-delivered product offerings. It has white-labeled its banking products to many financial startups, including the financial advice platform Stackin’ and the automated bank account management tool MaxMyInterest. NorthOne spent about five months looking for a bank partner before settling on Radius at the end of 2018.

The app, which launched Tuesday after a private beta in June, currently is available on iOS, with an Android launch expected by next quarter. NorthOne is looking to build partnerships with lenders, and the company is working on a bill pay feature that will allow customers to schedule a check payment from the app that NorthOne will mail remotely. 

Bensoussan didn’t disclose how many clients the company currently has, but he said the app had about 100,000 businesses on its waiting list. The company plans to launch a social media advertising campaign in the coming months.

See also: Challenger Bank Oxygen Serves Needs of Gig Economy Workers

Other digital-only banks like Azlo and Oxygen aim to solve business customers’ pain points, particularly accounting and cash flow management. Oxygen also offers credit to freelancers, and Azlo provides loans through a partnership with Kabbage. 

According to Karen Mills, former administrator of the U.S. Small Business Association, the key for small business digital banks is using AI-based tools to offer credit. “Digital banks that harness this technology to provide their clients with a faster and more personalized experience, as well as more products that meet their needs, will place pressure on traditional banks to match the new offerings,” she said in an email.

Tags: AzloNorthOneOxygenPremiumRadius
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