The Challenge

Over 63 million Americans, many of whom are low-income, do not have access to affordable banking services. Instead, low-income customers’ options are limited to predatory financial services with high fee structures, such as prepaid debit cards or cashing their paychecks at a local grocery store or WalMart. These fees add up. Altogether, it can cost customers up to $100 per month just to spend, deposit and hold their money.

The Innovation

Bridge’s free, nationwide mobile-banking services will remove the everyday barriers unbanked Americans face to accessing, spending and saving their money. Bridge customers will receive an FDIC-insured checking account and debit card with no minimum balance and no fees for account maintenance, check deposits or overdraft. Customers will be able to withdraw cash fee-free from Bridge’s 70,000 in-network ATMs at convenient locations like 7-Eleven or Walgreens. 

The Impact

Bridge is focused on serving customers with an annual income of less than $30,000. The company aims to bring on 10,000 account holders in its first seven months of operations and to save them an anticipated $500 annually while increasing their access to more fairly priced financial services, enabling them to build wealth over time.