Moven is to shut down its direct-to-consumer PFM offering following the withdrawal of multi-year funding as a result of market conditions. The New York-based company, fronted by fintech pioneer Brett King, says the firm will now concentrate solely on selling it technology to banks.
Brett King: “While our Enterprise business continues to see strong demand, marked by our recent multi-year deal announced with STC Pay based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the impact of coronavirus on our long-term committed funding pipeline has been impaired. Our plans for the spin-off of the direct-to-consumer business have had to be shelved as a result. It has become patently clear we need to focus our energies and our resources on the segment of our business where we can reach the most consumers moving forward, and that is our distributed smart banking and financial wellness capabilities.”
The direct-to-consumer offering will be wound down and all accounts closed in Q2, 2020, he says.
For those who have questions, Brett invited them to dialogue. And some of them did not hesitate to accept the challenge immediately. Below is a very interesting conversation between „the king of the disruptors” and a Finextra member.
Finextra member: „Ironic the self-proclaimed futurist and fintech disruptor can’t make it a month into an economic downturn without shutting the lights. Eight years in and still needs capital to stay afloat.”
Brett King: „Than 9 years we’ve successfully run a business most thought would die within months of our launch back in 2011 Firstly, we’re still have a thriving enterprise business that is growing and this prioritizes the profitable part of the business. So we’ve pivoted, not filed for chapter 11, and the Enterprise business doesn’t need any capital to stay afloat Secondly, we had a long term funding plan disappear, without that the direct to consumer business spin off was simply no longer viable as it would have seriously impinged on our growth and our push into the US market. The funding reversal was out of our control But thanks for the personal attack and making it anonymously.”
A Finextra member: „I’m not sure how you can disagree that its ironic that the incumbent banks are still thriving while the fintechs are already struggling to stay afloat in this market environment. Easier said than done to disrupt.”
Brett King: „I’ve never said Fintechs are taking over the world. In fact, I built my fintech on working with banks like TD since 2014! Secondly, I’ve written extensively on fintech and banking partnerships, in fact, Bank 4.0 is based on this very premise. Lastly, I’ve only maintained that branches will not survive, and that banks reliant on branches won’t survive – now more than ever that strategy is playing true. If anything I’ve supported banks through digitization from the get go, and it’s why I started writing in the first place, so I take great exception at your characterization of me being an advocate of fintech destroying banks, as that is patently not the case.”
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
