CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 172 USAlliance’s CEO Kris VanBeek on its Neo-bank Bank Dora
by Robert McGarvey
Meet Dora. She just may change all that you think about mobile banking.
A product of USAlliance – a $2 billion credit union based in Rye, NY that happens to be the legacy IBM employees credit union – Dora is the first credit union attempt to create a so-called neo bank, that is a branchless institution with no bricks and mortar.
USAlliance has been joined in this effort by three other credit unions: Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union ($3.5B in assets) headquartered in St. Paul, Minn.; Digital Federal Credit Union ($9.8B in assets) in Marlborough, Mass.; Service Credit Union ($5B in assets) in Portsmouth, N.H.
It may be seeking others to join in helping to spread Dora which, presently, is aimed at low to moderate income Americans who may be underserved or unserved by traditional financial institutions.
Can Dora survive in a marketplace where there are heavily funded, venture backed competitors – Chime for instance?
In this podcast USAlliance CEO Kris VanBeek offers candid, honest history about how and why Dora got birthed and how he sees it succeeding.
He is candid that he does not see Dora as a big money maker for USAlliance. But he believes it will generate a little profit.
He also indicates that Dora is going after different consumers than a Chime, say. He anticipates that many of Dora’s accounts will carry low balances and the economics of running Dora will be unlike a Chime.
Want to find out about Dora? The app is available in the Apple App Store, also Google Play. Signing up for an account is shockingly fast and easy. And Dora’s checking is free.
In this podcast VanBeek gives a shout out to BankingOn which played a significant part in creating the app. Tune in to next week’s podcast which will be with BankingOn and how it sees the future of mobile banking (think better, slicker, easier to use apps and be ready to toss existing apps in the dustbin).
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