REYL & Cie (REYL), the banking arm of REYL Group, has made an investment alongside Social Impact Finance in the Series B funding round of Aspiration, an online banking company based in Los Angeles.
In doing so, it will join the likes of Allen & Company, Omidyar Network, Capricorn Investments, Joseph Sanberg and other leading investors in the technology space. For REYL, this reflects a concrete and designed entry into the digital banking and fintech segments as a first step to building an innovative digital banking strategy in the coming months and years.
Founded in 2015, Aspiration offers banking, investing and retirement products that help people improve their own financial situations while making a positive difference in the world. In a short time span, Aspiration has become one of the fastest growing online banking and investing companies in America, adding thousands of new customers every week. On an annual basis, Aspiration customers have now transacted over USD2 billion on the Aspiration platform. At USD47 million, Aspiration’s Series B funding is the largest B round ever raised by an online banking company. Aspiration intends to use the proceeds to accelerate its growth in customers and new products as it works towards its objective of becoming the most pro-consumer, pro-conscience financial firm in the market.
REYL will be a member of Aspiration’s advisory board, which portrays its intent to be a proactive synergy-focused investor and, in the future, to encourage the expansion of Aspiration into international markets.
“Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit are at the core of REYL’s DNA. This investment came naturally as we share the same values and vision as the team at Aspiration,” says François Reyl, CEO of REYL. “We are aware that one of the banking industry’s biggest challenges lies with developing a digital strategy that will not only focus on acquiring a new client base but also fundamentally enhance the quality, flexibility, pricing and transparency of the services delivered to existing clients. Here we are setting the wheels in motion on both fronts.”
“At REYL we are in a unique position, due to our size, ethos and shareholders, to be able to sow the seeds of change in our industry,” says Pasha Bakhtiar, CEO of REYL Finance (MEA) Ltd. “We are conscious that the rapid pace of change in the banking sector is driven not only by technology but also by the ability to cater to a younger client base for whom social impact is as important as the underlying product or service. Aspiration ticks both those boxes and therein lies their success.”
