Stockpile Taps Green Dot to Offer Debit Cards for Kids

Stockpile Taps Green Dot to Offer Debit Cards for Kids
  • Stockpile is adding a kids debit card as part of its retail investing product suite for minors.
  • The debit card will be powered by Green Dot’s banking-as-a-service tool.
  • The card will have built-in parental controls and oversight.

Youth-focused brokerage company Stockpile is adding a new product to its lineup this week. The company will begin offering minors a debit card as part of its retail investing product suite.

The payment card, which will be powered by Green Dot’s banking-as-a-service, will have parental spending controls. Parents can set up debit cards for their kids, set and control the access they’d like their kids to have, and maintain oversight over their spending.

“Green Dot’s depth of experience embedding seamless, innovative and value-driven financial tools into their partner ecosystems, along with their passion for providing accessible financial services to consumers and businesses, make them a great fit for Stockpile’s long-term vision and growth trajectory,” said Stockpile CEO Victor Wang. “Partnering with Green Dot adds a new dimension to Stockpile’s hands-on financial learning and access, and will deliver a seamless and responsible debit card experience as an educational stepping stone to investing.”

Stockpile plans to add more tools and functionality to its product suite in the future. Based on competing payment tools for minors, such as Greenlight and GoHenry by Acorns, Stockpile may add budgeting tools, giving options, and a savings account.

Founded in 1999, Green Dot offers direct-to-consumer digital banking tools as well as a B2B banking-as-a-service offering. According to the release, Stockpile is among the first of Green Dot’s partners to build and operate from its cloud-native banking-as-a-service platform.

“We’re proud to partner with Stockpile to embed powerful financial tools and experiences that fuel engagement and value for their customers,” said Green Dot Head of Enterprise Business Development, Embedded Finance Simran Singh. “We’re passionate about giving people and businesses access to seamless, affordable banking and financial tools that build financial confidence and prosperity, as well as partnering with companies like Stockpile that share our values, purpose and vision.”

Notably, this announcement comes the same week that Acorns unveiled a new premium tier that includes access to GoHenry in the U.S. and two months after Greenlight launched a new solution to help teens build credit.


Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash

Stockpile Raises $30 Million to Boost Millennial Stock Ownership

Stockpile Raises $30 Million to Boost Millennial Stock Ownership

Millennial-focused brokerage firm Stockpile has pulled in $30 million this week in a Series B funding round led by Fidelity. Mayfield, Arbor Ventures, Hanna Ventures, Wang Ventures, and others also participated.

This investment boosts the California-based company’s total raised to $45 million. Avi Lele, Stockpile’s founder and CEO said the company will use the funds to “bring stock investing to more millennial customers and expand its unique features.”

David Milstein of Eight Roads, who is joining Stockpile’s board as a part of the investment said, “Stockpile has had tremendous success in attracting the next generation of investors.” He adds, “Their innovative approach takes the mystery out of stock investing and opens up access to all. They have put the stock market on a gift card.”

Stockpile launched in 2015 and sells its gift cards directly to consumers online and on store shelves via a partnership with Blackhawk Network. The company has also partnered with a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Verizon and FIS, who offer Stockpile gift cards as employee and/or customer incentives.

“We’re on a mission to make it simple for everyone – especially young, first-time investors – to save and invest for their future,” said Lele. “Fractional shares make market investing fun, easy, and personal. Even someone with only a few dollars can buy a piece of a favorite brand like Amazon or Alphabet, which are currently trading close to $1000 a share.”

Earlier this year Stockpile made a move to boost its client base with former Loyal3 customers and in 2016 the company acquired SparkGift, transferring SparkGift’s customer base to its own brokerage platform for free. Founded in 2010, by Avi Lele and Sanj Kulkarni, Stockpile launched at FinovateSpring 2014 in a demo that won Best of Show.

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This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Loyal3 Shuts Down, Stockpile Steps Up

Loyal3 Shuts Down, Stockpile Steps Up

As Tupac once said, “I don’t have no fear of death. My only fear is coming back reincarnated.” Unlike Tupac, however, Loyal3 users have nothing to be scared of. That’s because even though Loyal3 is shutting down its IPO marketplace and discount brokerage platform on May 19, stock gift card company Stockpile has stepped in to allow Loyal3 clients to transfer their shares to its platform.

Launched in 2008, Loyal3 sought to democratize capital markets by helping novice investors purchase fractional stock shares. Users could browse the company’s portfolio of 70 stocks and invest with as little as $10 per stock, with zero fees. The company’s batch trading strategy executed trades once per day. At FinovateFall 2014, the company showed off its mobile IPO marketplace where users could view the IPO status, receive IPO pricing and allocation notifications, and confirm or withdraw their IPO reservations.

To capture Loyal3 clients, Palo Alto-based Stockpile has facilitated the onboarding process for the new customers. Users just sign up for a Stockpile account, email a recent Loyal3 account statement to Stockpile’s customer support, and Stockpile returns a (mostly) pre-filled account form. Users complete, sign, and upload the form to Stockpile, which oversees the transition of assets over to its platform. The only wrinkle is that Stockpile cannot accept stocks from Frontier and Nokia; users will need to cash out those stocks.

This isn’t Stockpile’s first move to expand its user base. In 2016, the company acquired SparkGift, transferring SparkGift’s customer base to its own brokerage platform for free. In 2015 the company partnered with Blackhawk Network to offer physical gift cards in denominations of $25, $50, and $100 at select U.S. retailers. Founded in 2010, by Avi Lele and Sanj Kulkarni, Stockpile launched at FinovateSpring 2014 in a demo that won Best of Show.

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This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Stock Gifting Platform Stockpile Acquires SparkGift

Stock Gifting Platform Stockpile Acquires SparkGift

Screen Shot 2016-06-16 at 1.58.40 PM

Just in time to remind you of what would make a great Father’s Day gift, stock gift card company Stockpile acquired SparkGift, a startup behind a similar stock egifting idea.

Stockpile will transfer SparkGift’s customer base onto its own brokerage platform for free in the next three months. Upon transferring, SparkGift customers will receive new features, including 99-cent stock trades, an iOS app, and the ability for kids and teens to independently check their own accounts and place trades (with their moms’ and dads’ permission, of course).

Stockpile CEO Avi Lele describes SparkGift as “an innovator in personalizing and democratizing the stock market for the millennial generation” saying that the San Francisco-based startup “shares Stockpile’s mission of making investing accessible to everyone.”

Palo Alto-based Stockpile allows users to buy fractional stock shares starting at $10. In 2015 the company partnered with Blackhawk Network to offer physical gift cards in denominations of $25, $50, and $100 at select U.S. retailers.

Founded in 2010, Stockpile CEO Avi Lele and Chief Commercial Officer Dan Schatt launched the company at FinovateSpring 2014 in a demo that won Best of Show.

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Stockpile Hauls in $15 Million in New Investment

Stockpile Hauls in $15 Million in New Investment

Stockpile_homepage_Oct2015

 

Stockpile, the company that provides gift cards for stock, has raised $15 million in funding. The major investment in Stockpile comes courtesy of Sequoia Capital, Mayfield, and individual investor, Ashton Kutcher, who praised Stockpile’s “drop-dead-easy user experience and affordability to all.”

Rajeev Batra, partner at Mayfield, was equally enthusiastic, referring to Stockpile’s combination of gift card technology and fractional share ownership as a “massive paradigm shift.”

“Stockpile is bringing the stock market to where you shop, bank, and do other things in your daily life,” Batra said. “You need a seasoned team to pull this off, and these guys know how to execute.”

Stockpile_stage_FS2014

Stockpile CEO Avi Lele and CCO Dan Schatt demonstrated Stockpile Gift Cards at FinovateSpring 2014.

Added Don Kingsborough, founder and former CEO of fellow Finovate alum Blackhawk Network, “Every retailer CEO I’ve spoken with thinks Stockpile is going to be the next, multibillion-dollar gift card category.”

Setting up a Stockpile Gift Card is as easy as choosing the stock (such as Tesla), deciding on a dollar amount to spend (any whole number between $1 and $1,000), and then purchasing the gift card with a credit card. The gift recipient then logs in to their Stockpile account using a special access code in order to get their stock. Stockpile Gift Cards are available at a variety of retailers including Lowe’s, Supervalu, and Wegman’s, as well as via iOS app. Gift cards include a “gifting fee” of $2.99 per card plus 3% of the face value of the card.

“Most people have never had an opportunity to own stock in their favorite companies because it’s too expensive and complicated to get started,” Stockpile CEO and founder Avi Lele explained in a statement. “For the first time ever, you’ll be able to walk into the supermarket and buy a gift card for, say, $25 of Apple stock right off the rack.”

Founded December 2010 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Stockpile made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.