• Invstr launched Invstr Jr., a digital bank and investing account for users under the age of 18.
• When they are ready to invest, child users can send their investment proposals to the adult on the account, who can approve or decline the request.
• The new Invstr Jr. accounts cost $6.25 to $7.99 per month.

Kids want to do everything their parents do, so why not let them invest… with a little help, of course. Digital banking and investment app Invstr launched Invstr Jr. this week. Invstr Jr. is a custodial account to help users under the age of 18 learn how to earn, invest, and manage their finances.

When parents open an Invstr Jr. account for their child, they can schedule monthly deposits and set allowances for completing goals. Each account, offered by Vast Bank, features a checking and savings account, a debit card, a brokerage account with commission-free fractional investing, and a crypto account. When they are ready to invest, the child user can send investment proposals to the adult, who has the option to approve or decline the requests.

“At Invstr we believe that you’re never too young to start investing,” said Invstr CEO Kerim Derhalli. “We believe everyone can be an investor and can learn to invest in the same way that we learn to play a sport or a musical instrument. Investing is increasingly being recognized as a key life skill. We have made it fun and social for people to build experience and confidence safely and to learn good money habits.”

Invstr Jr. is also focused on bridging the financial health knowledge gap that young users face. Children can receive rewards for completing gamified learning modules in the Invstr Academy. And because many kids learn by doing, Invstr Jr. offers a Fantasy Finance game that allows users to manage a $1 million risk-free, virtual portfolio and create leagues to compete with friends. Within their league, players will see a leaderboard and statistics, and can chat or direct message other users or their adult.

Invstr Jr. accounts, which cost $6.25 to $7.99 per month, can include up to four kids and will have access to Invstr Pro. This solution offers the member tools to find the best investments and provides daily feedback on their portfolio risk and returns, their progress as an investor, and a personal Invstr Score.

The company’s new custodial investment account competes with Acorns, which offers Acorns Early at $5 per month, and with Greenlight, which offers investing tools within its account, that costs $4.99 per month.

U.K.-based Invstr was founded in 2013 to democratize finance. The company’s app has been downloaded more than one and a half million times in over 200 countries.

Photo by Julia M Cameron

• Paysafe and Eightcap are expanding on their partnership to offer an Embedded Trading Wallet solution.
• The Embedded Trading Wallet brings Paysafe’s digital wallet infrastructure together with Eightcap’s trading technology to create a white-label wallet for their shared partners and merchants.
• Paysafe and Eightcap first partnered in 2016.

Global payments provider Paysafe has expanded on its partnership with online trading platform Eightcap to launch an Embedded Trading Wallet solution.

Under the agreement, the two will offer an embedded finance solution for Eightcap’s and Paysafe’s shared partners and merchants. The Embedded Trading Wallet combines Paysafe’s digital wallet infrastructure with Eightcap’s trading technology to create a white-label, plug-and-play trading and payment wallet for their retail traders.

“We’re delighted to be embarking on this strategic partnership with Eightcap and facilitating its embedded trading wallet solution through white labelling our products and services,” said Paysafe SVP of Crypto and Digital Assets Micah Kershner. “Embedded finance is the future, and we believe this solution will revolutionize the trader’s experience.”

U.K.-based Paysafe was founded in 1996. The company now offers payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions connecting businesses and consumers across 250 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Paysafe has processed $130 billion in transactions. The company is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PSFE and has a market capitalization of $816 million.

Eightcap, which first teamed up with Paysafe in 2016, facilitates retail derivatives trading for investors in more than 120 countries. The company’s B2B embedded trading API allows partners to offer over 1,000 tradable instruments in stocks, indices, crypto, FX, and commodities.

“We are extremely excited to be entering into this new phase of our partnership. This solution will enable unparalleled payment capabilities for our global partners and traders,” said Eightcap Director of UK Patrick Murphy.

Photo by Pixabay

• Upgrade is entering into the auto loans business.
• The company is making the auto loans available to a wide range of consumers, even those with FICO scores as low as 580.
• The move comes as others are pulling out of auto lending or tightening lending restrictions.

Digital bank Upgrade announced this week it now offers auto loans. The California-based company plans to originate the loans via car dealers and re-sell the debt to its network of banks.

According to Bloomberg, which broke the news, the company will target a range of consumers– even those with sub-prime credit– and plans to extend loans to consumers with FICO scores as low as 580.

This announcement comes at a time when many consumers are underwater on their auto loans, triggering higher delinquencies. According to Edmunds.com, the average U.S. consumer’s monthly payment reached $733 in July, marking a record high.

Because of this, multiple lenders have either exited auto lending in some capacity, or have tightened their lending standards. This has left a “void in the market,” according to Upgrade Co-founder and CEO Renaud Laplanche. “It’s great to be in that position to lower the cost of auto lending at the time it’s really needed,” he said.

Where others are backing out, however, Upgrade is doubling down. The company claims to have a competitive advantage over other lenders because it taps multiple sources of funding– from banks, to credit unions, to asset managers– which purchase the loans after Upgrade has originated them.

While Upgrade already offers auto loan refinancing as part of its banking product suite, this is the company’s first foray into auto loan origination. The company refinances auto loans at 5.24% to 17.94% APR on cars less than 10 years old with mileages under 130,000.

A group of 30 car dealers in California and Oregon are piloting Upgrade’s auto loans, which went live with the loans earlier this week.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio