FinTron is a banking and brokerage app that is affordable, provides educational assistance and has a philanthropic give-back program. The company is also raising capital from a equity crowdfunding campaign on Netcapital. The minimum to invest in FinTron is $99.
The co-founder and CEO is Wilder Rumpf (the company was launched in 2017). Prior to FinTron, he was the New York Regional Manager for Preferred Pool Management. While at this position, he had little time to focus on his own investments. So he taught himself coding and developed automated algorithms. After a while, he realized that this technology could be quite useful for anyone.
As for the other co-founders of FinTron, they include:
- Matthew Fatse (Operations Director): He has led the efforts to help register FinTron as a broker-dealer. He has also helped with the development of the initial algorithms and product development.
- Adam Pulcyn (Support Staff Director): He has served in sales positions for different companies, such as Cutco Vector Marketing. As for FinTron, he has focused on HR (Human Resources).
Invest in Fintron as a Banking Play
The target market for Fintron is on those between the ages of 18 to 39, which are part of the Gen Y and Gen Z demographics. And for the most part, these groups are skeptical of traditional financial institutions.
But of course, FinTron believes that its mobile-first approach will be attractive to its target market. However, the company’s app is not available yet. Note that there is a waitlist that offers a free month for the service and credits for the give-back program.
Yet here’s what FinTron plans to provide with its app:
- Mobile Banking: You can add your debit card to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Pay, Samsung Pay and Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) Android Pay. This feature essentially turns your smartphone into a virtual wallet.
- ATMs: The withdrawals – anywhere in the world — do not include a fee.
- Investment Research Tools: FinTron has systems to assess risks and to allow for searching of stocks that fit your requirements. The portfolio builder also makes it possible to do back-testing of up to 30 stocks for periods of up to ten years.
- Budgeting: There is a useful tool to tailor a monthly plan for spending, savings and investments.
- Unlimited Trading: You can transact in over 600 fractional investments, such as for stocks and ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds).
For all this, a user will pay $2 per month. But yes, there are other potential revenue streams. These include fees for interchange, interest on AUM (assets under management), order flow and sweep programs.
In terms of the competitive environment – which is certainly key for anyone thinking of investing in FinTron – it is intense. There are already several solid next-generation fintech apps that have gained much traction, such as Robinhood, Stash and Acorns.
They have already built brands that resonate with younger generations, have created large infrastructures and have raised huge sums of capital.
Invest in FinTron?
The company has already raised $430,000. As for the equity crowdfunding campaign, it has received commitments for over $51,000, with the valuation set at $4.6 million. There are also no perks included with this round.
Yet as is the case with any private investing deal, there are considerable risks. FinTron is still trying to get its broker-dealer license. And once the app is launched, there will be the challenges of getting the attention of new users. The fact is that it is expensive to acquire new customers. In other words, to get to critical mass, FinTron will need to raise much more money – and quickly.
Thus, before thinking of making an investment, it’s important to do your own analysis and research.
Tom Taulli (@ttaulli) is an advisor/board member for startups and author of various books and online courses about technology, including Artificial Intelligence Basics, The Robotic Process Automation Handbook and Learn Python Super Fast. He is also the founder of WebIPO, which was one of the first platforms for public offerings during the 1990s. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
Investing through equity and real estate crowdfunding or asset tokenization requires a high degree of risk tolerance. Despite what individual companies may promise, there’s always the chance of losing a portion, or the entirety, of your investment. These risks include:
1) Greater chance of failure
2) Risk of fraudulent activity
3) Lack of liquidity
4) Economic downturns
5) Dearth of investor education
Read more: Private Investing Risks
