The London-based mobile banking app Pockit aims to bring banking services to people who might have difficulties opening traditional bank accounts, or may not see the point of doing so. According to TechCrunch, the mobile bank has just brought in £2.9 million, this coming before a Series B round the company has planned for the end of 2017. Participants in the current round include individual investors Kevin Reynolds (partner at Bridgepoint Capital), Colin Harris (founder of Fresh Direct), and Stuart Middleton. The company has previously raised £10 million from various investors.
Pockit already features basic banking services, and users can receive their salaries directly into their mobile accounts. The company's current plan for expansion is to offer a remittance service for immigrants. By enabling customers to send money abroad the company sees itself as providing a necessary service for a population that is underserved by banking, and provides an alternative to more expensive money transfer services like Western Union.
Next week, Pockit users will be able to send money to Poland and Italy, and all other Eurozone countries will be added in June. After that the company will start adding countries outside of Europe, including Philippines, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Nigeria.
Unlike its competitors such as Monese, instead of charging a monthly fee, the app makes its money by charging a flat fee of £.99 for extra services. Currently the app has about 150,000 users.
Read more: TechCrunch
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