Kard raises another $3.5 million for its challenger bank for teens

French startup Kard has added $3.5 million (€3 million) to its seed round. The company already raised the same amount last year, which means that Kard has raised $7 million (€6 million) in total for its seed round.

Founders Future is leading the round, with Laurence Krieger, Michael Vaughan, Jon Oringer and Iris Mittenaere also participating.

Kard is building a challenger bank specifically designed for teenagers. When you create an account, you receive your own IBAN and a Mastercard debit card. You can block and unblock the card, you receive instant transaction notifications and you can send and receive money with other Kard users.

For the past year, the service has been completely free and 50,000 teenagers signed up. Starting today, Kard is switching to paid subscriptions for new users. Each family has to pay €4.99 per month or €49.90 per year to create a family account. After that, you can create as many accounts as you want — if you have two, three or four children, it still costs €4.99 per month.

With today’s change, Kard is also adding some additional features. Parents can download the Kard app and manage allowances from the app. You can schedule weekly or monthly transfers, block your child’s card and send money instantly by pairing a card with the app.

As for teenagers, Kard users now get a virtual card for online payments. As a Kard user, your smartphone is insured against screen damage (up to €100). There are now three different card designs as well — black, silver or pink.

The startup says that Apple Pay and Google Pay are on the roadmap, as well as money pots. There will be some personalized discounts in the app as well, which could open up a new revenue stream.

Kard competes with PixPay, Xaalys, Vybe, but also Revolut Junior, Lydia and services from traditional banks. Let’s see how the new pricing strategy affects Kard’s growth going forward.

Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com