Renaud Laplanche CEO at Upgrade, talks about how the company’s “credit first” strategy has been a springboard toward already becoming profitable.
The demographics of neobank users are often surprising; it is not only young people who are signing up, but also older age brackets. What is the standard profile of your target customer? What has been key to your customer acquisition success?
The appeal of neobanks is absolutely getting broader and more mainstream. While it started with younger consumers and underbanked categories, we’re now seeing more mainstream, fully banked consumers joining the fray and adding a fintech account or switching over entirely. Upgrade customers are 40 on average, and we have a lot of customers in their 50s and 60s. Mainstream consumers have now overcome the initial risk aversion and “newness” factor of neobanking, and have come to realize that they can obtain more value from their banking relationship as neobanks often bear lower costs than traditional banks without the burden of a branch network. This creates an opportunity for mainstream consumers to pay no fees, enjoy higher rewards on their credit or debit cards, and pay lower rates on their loan.
The demographics of neobank users are often surprising; it is not only young people who are signing up, but also older age brackets. What is the standard profile of your target customer? What has been key to your customer acquisition success?
The appeal of neobanks is absolutely getting broader and more mainstream. While it started with younger consumers and underbanked categories, we’re now seeing more mainstream, fully banked consumers joining the fray and adding a fintech account or switching over entirely. Upgrade customers are 40 on average, and we have a lot of customers in their 50s and 60s. Mainstream consumers have now overcome the initial risk aversion and “newness” factor of neobanking, and have come to realize that they can obtain more value from their banking relationship as neobanks often bear lower costs than traditional banks without the burden of a branch network. This creates an opportunity for mainstream consumers to pay no fees, enjoy higher rewards on their credit or debit cards, and pay lower rates on their loan.
