BlueVine to Enter Banking in 2020

BlueVine Capital, the Redwood City-based alternative funder, has announced today that it will launch its BlueVine Business Banking product in 2020, which will offer checking accounts that come with debit Mastercards, checks, and ATM access exclusively to small businesses. And just like many of the new competitors in the banking space, BlueVine Business Banking will be app-based, with access also being available through an online dashboard.

With the financial infrastructure and regulatory framework being provided by The Bancorp Bank, BlueVine is the next alternative finance company to look toward becoming a bank, a move which has proven difficult for companies who already tried, such as SoFi and Square.

“Historically, banks have under-invested in small businesses and as a result, small businesses have been left with products and services that don’t meet their needs,” said BlueVine CEO and Co-founder Eyal Lifshitz in a press release that claims only 9% of  small businesses believe their banks meet all of their needs. “Credit is a core part of banking and with the addition of checking accounts to our existing suite of financing products, customers can have a truly seamless banking experience.”

Such seamlessness spawns from BlueVine’s goal to promote an integrated and instant banking model, Lifshitz told me. “No more waiting for ACH for two days, or for wires to come in. You press a button, you draw from your line of credit, and magically it’s in your checking account … It’s the way that we believe it should be. The fact that it’s not currently like this is incredible in our eyes. This is what we believe the future looks like.”

BlueVine Business Banking will offer customers 1.00% interest rates on their savings and aims to cut out many of the fees associated with checking accounts, as Lifshitz explained that there will be no monthly, excess, or ACH charges; and that wire fees will be a fraction of what they cost with traditional banks.

“We feel we have the ability to build a true small business bank. Finally, one that is built and designed for small businesses rather than one that is having them as the third or fourth priority on the list, which many of the larger banks do … We believe the reason we’re here providing alternative finance is because banking is broken, and our goal is to build better banking, not just financing, but overall better banking.”

Brendan Garrett was a Reporter at deBanked.