Qorus and Capgemini have identified the leading fintech companies for the payment challenge they organize for the Open Finance Community. The first one is Unbanked and its co-founder and CEO Ian Kane tells us more about it.
About Unbanked
Unbanked enables the issuance of crypto debit cards for residents of more than 75 countries (over 3.1 billion people). Unbanked’s fintech platform provides B2B2C services for other Web3 companies – including 5-minute customer signup, buy/sell crypto, debit cards, and rewards capabilities. Unbanked seamlessly connects crypto with traditional fintech and banking solutions.
What business problem do you solve? Why is it important to your clients?
We provide everything required for businesses to launch and operate debit card programs across 75 countries using either cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies as the spendable asset for the consumer.
In which countries do you operate?
United States, 29 Latin American countries, 27 European countries, as well as India, Nigeria, Canada, etc.
What is your core value proposition? What are the unique features you offer to your customers?
Bank accounts for buying crypto, debit cards for spending crypto, crypto back rewards, and more.
Providing that your solution has already been implemented in financial institutions, which companies have already adopted this solution?
Litecoin Foundation, Stormx, Nexo, and others.
NewTech Friday: Unbanked – a liberating mix of legacy financial technology and blockchain
Can you describe in a few words one of these collaborations?
Litecoin Foundation was looking for a way to give customers real-world spending ability for Litecoin, so we launched the Litecoin VISA debit card enabling customers to spend LTC, but the merchants receive USD.
What is your business model and how easy is it to duplicate to additional geographies?
We make a combination of recurring and re-ocurring revenue through licensing fees, fx, interchange, and more. It is difficult to duplicate because of the regulatory environment around MSBs and the compliance required for financial entities. However, it is easier for Unbanked to move into additional territories as we meet these compliance requirements.
Where do you see your fintech company in five years? What impact or difference are you trying to achieve for financial institutions in your portfolio?
I see Unbanked powering the majority of crypto debit card programs as many companies are looking for infrastructure like ours instead of building it themselves.
