Chicago FinTech News 6-26-2020

Chicago Student Loans by A.M. Money offers no-cosign funding. Chicago born-and-raised black FinTEx member A.M. money has matched his life experience with a team and a vision to expand funding for students without access to a cosigner for student debt.

Rapunzl Co-Founder Highlights Diversity Continuing Diversity Problems. Rapunzl co-founder (a previously-featured company on FinTech Rising) Myles Gage is calling for help in building a more equitable pipeline to financial service, and spoke to continuing issues in real diversity in the industry.  “I guess my question to all of those companies — and the countless others who have committed to diversity — is why do you think having a token Black Board member is sufficient?” Gage said.

1871 and BMO Harris Bank Announce WMN•FINtech Program Participants. The five participating companies for the series, a first for 1871 and BMO Harris Bank, are exclusively women-led startups in fintech.  All of the WMN•FINtech participants have access to 1871’s “PYROS” initiative, a 13-week series of workshops, seminars and one-to-one mentoring built to help founders gain and grow customers and investor traction. PYROS offers WMN•FINtech participants a path to scale a financial technology or service business.  Participants selected include:

  • DelShan, Inc.
    DelShan, Inc. by AtkCo is the go-to finance, employee safety, and human resources partner based out of Chicago that improves and develops best practices through the implementation of automated operational procedures and employee workflow.
  • Hope Trust
    Working as a trustee, or seamlessly with third-party trustees and investment managers, Hope Trust enables families and professionals to provide holistic financial planning, case management, and fiduciary services, such as managed distributions and government benefits navigation. Hope Trust is headquartered in Eatontown, N.J.
  • Plinqit
    Plinqit by HTMA, based out of Ann Arbor, Mich., is a brandable, mobile-first platform that is elegant and highly powerful at the same time. Created by Millennials for Millennials, Plinqit helps financial institutions connect with this important demographic in a meaningful, relevant way.
  • Pocketnest
    Pocketnest, headquartered in Detroit, provides comprehensive financial planning to GenX and Millennials through a white label of their software to financial institutions like banks, credit unions, advisors and retirement plan sponsors.
  • The Wealth Factory
    The Wealth Factory, based in Washington, D.C., designs WealthyLife Financial Literacy education technology games, curriculum and fintech products that walk users from birth to retirement in 12 interactive modules to exceed the personal finance common core standards. Similar to Candy Crush, their first app, CreditStacker, allows users to swap credit pieces to pay debt, achieve a high credit score and learn from the multiple choice questions.