Zero Financial, Inc. (Zero) today announced that it has closed a $20 million Series A financing round, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), allowing it to scale to the more than 200,000 people on its waitlist over the next few weeks. This brings its total equity and debt funding to date to $35 million from leading investors including NEA, SignalFire, Eniac Ventures, Nyca Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank
Called "A better overall offer than almost any credit card," by The New York Times, Zero is banking built for today's consumer needs. It's a replacement for your old-school bank, built by combining a rewards credit card called Zerocard and an FDIC-insured checking account called Zero Checking. Unlike any other product before it, Zero finally lets you "bank like debit and earn like credit."
The Debit-style Experience, unique to Zero, displays transactions from Zerocard and Zero Checking together in the Zero app, with one net number to spend from. Customers also get the benefit of a system that prevents unplanned or unwanted overspend.
Transactions are enhanced with logos and maps, making it easy to recognize purchases. For customers who still have questions, Zero's support team is always available, with 24/7 support from its operations center in California.
"Few people understand how complex it is to launch a credit card or a checking account program," said Rick Yang, Partner at NEA. "Zero is the first US startup to launch a fully integrated and elegantly designed product with both from scratch. Importantly, Zero gives consumers the ability to fully control and understand their own spend, without compromising on rewards — something that traditional account options have failed to provide."
Zerocard is a World Mastercard, so it earns credit card cash back. Customers start out with a Quartz level card, earning 1% cash back on purchases. They tell their friends. When a friend joins and qualifies, the customer gets a higher-level card called Graphite. Two friends to get a solid-metal Magnesium level card, and four to get a Carbon level card, also solid metal. Graphite earns 1.5%, Magnesium earns 2% and Carbon earns 3% cash back, on all spending categories. To receive the full cash back rate at the Graphite, Magnesium, and Carbon levels, the Zerocard full statement balance must be paid by the due date from the customer's Zero Checking account. Learn more at zero.app/rewards-agreement.
"Apple recently made headlines by saying they're launching the first credit card that encourages you to pay less interest," said Bryce Galen, Founder & CEO of Zero. "I think we've done one better and launched the first credit card that encourages you to pay no interest."
"If you're someone who spends $30,000 a year and maintains an average of $30,000 in deposits, you'll earn $0 in cash back and interest with a typical debit card and non-interest bearing checking account, and $1,425 a year with your Zerocard Carbon1," said Joel Washington, Founder & COO of Zero. "And it takes just a few minutes to sign up."
An experienced executive team comes from Affirm, Apple, Capital One, Dropbox, Google, Postmates, Shift, Silicon Valley Bank, Upgrade, Wells Fargo, and Zynga.
Zero has partnered with WebBank, a Salt Lake City-based bank, to issue Zerocard. Deposits are held at Evolve Bank & Trust (a Memphis-based bank and Member FDIC) and insured up to FDIC limits.
About Zero
Zero, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a financial technology company that enables consumers to experience the things they like about debit cards -- such as having a clear idea of how much money they have to spend -- with the cash back and flexibility of a credit card. Zero doesn't charge annual fees, ATM fees beyond what the ATM owner charges, foreign transaction fees, minimum balance fees, overdraft fees or many of the other fees that you've come to expect from typical bank accounts. At the Carbon level, all ATM fees charged by the ATM owner are refunded. To keep up with Zero, get in touch on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or visit zero.app, or view the cardholder agreement at zero.app/zca.
About WebBank
WebBank, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah and organized in 1997, is an FDIC-insured, state-chartered industrial bank that extends credit to borrowers throughout the U.S. and operates under federal banking law. WebBank is the bank behind many of today's growing, customer-centric brands. It is a national issuer of online consumer and small business loans through brand partners which include retailers, OEMs, and financial technology companies. In addition, WebBank is a leader in digital lending and driving innovation in financial products through strategic partner relationships. Providing customized credit products and solutions to both SMBs and consumers, WebBank is dedicated to being a best-in-class provider of compliance, capital, and oversight management for strategic partner platforms. For more information about WebBank, visit webbank.com.
About Evolve Bank & Trust
Evolve Bank & Trust, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is an FDIC-insured, state-chartered bank that operates loan production offices and full-service retail branches in Arkansas and Tennessee as well as mortgage production offices across the country. Evolve's dedicated Payment Processing Division offers ACH, Debit Sponsorship, Remote Deposit Capture and other processing solutions to clients around the country. In addition to banking, mortgage banking, and payment processing services, Evolve is a nationwide Preferred SBA Lender and also offers trust and fiduciary services, equipment finance and leasing, and physicians lending to its customers throughout the U.S. For more information about Evolve, visit getevolved.com.
