FinTech Lender OneBlinc Intros Mastercard For The Underbanked

The FinTech lending startup OneBlinc is introducing a checking account and debit Mastercard to help people who are unbanked and underbanked to better manage their finances, the company said in a press release on Tuesday (Aug. 17).

“We want to make access to the latest financial technology more democratized, especially among the Black and Latinx communities, who make up a disproportionate amount of the unbanked and underbanked U.S. population,” said OneBlinc Co-founder and CEO Fabio Torelli.

See also: Real-Time Payments Help Underbanked Consumers Find Financial Relief

He added that by aligning with Mastercard, OneBlinc will have access to advanced technology and tools to “provide our loyal customers with products that help them rebuild credit.”

The new offerings also give OneBlinc expanded ways to help people in underserved communities build or repair credit, while also introducing them to financial management tools and emergency funding. More than 22 percent of American households are unbanked or underbanked, according to the press release, which cited data from the Federal Reserve. 

See also: Brookings Institution On The Benefits Of Real-Time Payments For Underbanked Americans

Launched in Miami, Florida in 2018, OneBlinc started offering instant loans to people with poor credit by developing a proprietary scoring algorithm instead of using traditional credit scores. The startup has plans to expand its operations across the country and reach more segments of the population in need of financial services. 

See also: What FIs Don’t Get About The Underbanked Consumer

The co-branded OneBlinc Mastercard debit card is fully digital and offers contactless payments, no overdraft fees and no minimum balance. People also have the option of getting direct-deposit salary advances and OneBlinc loans directly onto the card.

OneBlinc offers solutions that are especially useful to public sector employees, the company said. The new Mastercard checking account and debit cards will be available to more than 20,000 OneBlinc customers, with plans to extend the service to all 15 million public sector employees.