Next-gen neobank Douugh Ltd (ASX:DOU) today announced the official launch of its financial wellness app. Having forged a strategic partnership with Mastercard, Douugh has been in beta with select US consumers since early-2019 and is now officially launching to the wider market.
Douugh Founder and CEO, Andy Taylor shares, “We are following in the footsteps of successful international fintechs Afterpay and Xero by listing early in our growth cycle on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Similar to the path of their fundraising, this allows us access to capital while building valuation.” Since listing last month, Douugh’s share price has increased over 1274% to a market cap of AU$220m.
Financial wellness is one of the biggest challenges America faces. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted in April 2020 showed that voters age 18 to 34 were most likely to suffer an economic blow, like losing health insurance or getting a pay cut, because of the COVID crisis. To add, in a GOBankingRates 2019 survey nearly 70% of adults from across the US said they have less than $1,000 in a savings account compared with 58% in 2018.
With a mission to democratize banking and make the world financially healthier, Douugh offers an FDIC-insured smart bank account and Mastercard/Apple Pay enabled debit card. The app applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to a user’s personal income and spending data to tailor an individual financial solution that helps users spend wisely, save more and build wealth.
The launch also marks the introduction of Douugh’s industry-first Bills Jar feature with a linked virtual card, which helps users track and cover their fixed and recurring outgoing expenses.
“Through our beta phase, we found that one of our customer’s biggest pain points was keeping track of their fixed and recurring bills, especially subscriptions,” said Founder & CEO Andy Taylor. “Bills Jar flags upcoming bills, allowing customers to sweep in funds and use the dedicated virtual card to become the principal card on file to pay recurring bills, outside of the main Douugh checking account. It’s a key foundational component, along with our integrated Saving Jars, Rainy Day Jar and Spending Targets, which allows our users to better manage their money and stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. A task that will become automated and self-learning over time with the introduction of Autopilot.”
Users also have the ability to connect their existing bank, investment accounts and credit cards to get a single view of their financial position through open banking.
“We are trying to do to banking what Tesla is doing to the automotive industry. We see open banking and autonomous AI technology to be the next frontier in fintech, and the biggest disruption to happen to such a stale industry vertical that has only really experienced linear improvement over time,” Taylor says.
