A startup called Bowery Financial is looking to lure the young and the wealthy away from their current banks and credit cards.
The company says it will offer a “next-generation financial product” that will “replace your current bank account with a hybrid credit-deposit product that significantly enhances your banking experience and keeps more of your hard earned money in the bank.” The offering will combine the best of checking/debit products with the best of credit cards.
Bowery Financial will target a market it describes as 31.9 million mass-affluent customers between the ages of 18 and 49. The company is in the process of raising a $2 million round of funding.
(The company is presumably named after the Bowery, a section of Manhattan named for a thoroughfare on the island’s Lower East Side that was for many years the Big Apple’s skid row. We can’t divine the connection to a financial services venture for the affluent, though in recent years the Bowery has become more upscale.)
Specifics on the offering are scarce for now, but the company expects to offer a mobile-first product and card that will offer features found in credit cards aimed at affluent customers: low APRs and strong rewards programs. Fees, the company promises, will be low.
This offering is distinct from most of the “neo-bank” offerings such as Simple, Moven or GoBank in that it offers credit. There is no word at this time on any bank partners of the project.
Prospective customers can sign up here.