Digital Banks & Neobanks
Digital Banks & Neobanks combines app-led account and payments franchises (SoFi, Block, Klarna) with the card networks, processors and bank partners they rely on. Recent verified activity centres on SoFi's stablecoin-based card settlement and Block's push for a national money transmitter license. The verified dossier is also dominated by regulatory and partner-dependency disclosures, and it contains little direct evidence on pure-play neobank growth.
Active institutional funds cut a net $2.2 billion in Q2 2026, versus $2.6 billion in Q1 2026 — an outflow 15% smaller. 44.4% of companies in this sub-theme saw decreased active positions in Q2 2026.
Overview
This sub-theme covers digital-first consumer and SME banks and app-led financial-account platforms, including regulated banks and digital-account providers. The group spans chartered institutions such as SoFi, which is subject to bank regulation including the Volcker Rule and FDIC brokered-deposit rules. It also includes licensed non-bank platforms such as Block, which operates under state money transmission licenses and offers FDIC pass-through deposit access via partner banks. Payments-led providers such as Klarna, whose local payment methods are integrated into Shopify Payments in certain countries, are part of the group as well. These franchises sit on shared infrastructure. Card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) let merchants accept cards through Block's point-of-sale products, and processing-technology vendors such as Fiserv supply platforms, including Clover, to banks such as Toronto-Dominion. Established banks such as BBVA compete with digital entrants and with large technology platforms (Amazon and Apple) that offer payments and credit as extensions of their core businesses. Value in the sub-theme is determined by licensing and charter status, deposit funding and insurance arrangements, and access to payment rails.
Investment Thesis
Investment thesis details are part of the Pro plan.
Bottleneck Tracker
Bottleneck details are part of the Pro plan.
Key Companies
Related Events
SoFi, a federally chartered bank, is the first to bring interest-bearing, FDIC-protected tokenized deposits to consumers, positioning them as a bank-regulated alternative to stablecoins. The product targets crypto users who park cash in stablecoins and want yield, and lets them buy Bitcoin and pay service providers such as Mastercard that also hold SoFi accounts. It tests whether banks can capture blockchain benefits like 24/7 settlement inside the existing regulatory perimeter, especially after the Clarity Act failed over stablecoin interest. The main limitation is that transfers only work between parties who both bank with SoFi, which stablecoin advocates see as a serious constraint. Stablecoin issuers like Circle and Coinbase face a new competitive angle, while other banks may be pushed to follow.
Payward's agreement to buy Saldo Bank would make it the first crypto-native owner of an EU-licensed bank, moving beyond the custody-and-payments trust charters held by US peers such as Coinbase and Ripple. EU passporting would let Kraken offer interest-bearing deposits, consumer and SME loans, cards and SEPA transfers across multiple markets once the deal closes in 2027. The bank license also lets Payward offer banking-as-a-service infrastructure to other fintechs, widening its revenue base beyond trading fees. The deal follows Kraken Financial's Federal Reserve account and Nasdaq's $100 million investment at a reported $21 billion valuation, which together signal growing integration of crypto firms into regulated finance. Regulatory approval remains a key risk, and the pressure is on competing exchanges and neobanks to pursue bank licenses or partnerships of their own.