Unbanked and underbanked individuals are able to go to Mango Financial, or Mango Money, for help with financial services. Mango Financial provides its Mango Money with prepaid debit cards online, plus a full menu of bank-like services not typically accessible for unbanked and underbanked consumers. Mango Financial wants new locations but is only located in Austin, Texas right now.
Unbanked and underbanked with special privileges
Mango Financial was created on the basis of a prepaid debit card, but its Austin location is a preview of something extra. My Bank Tracker talked to founder of Mango, Bertrand Sosa, who said the gateway to financial services to help those who are unbanked or underbanked manage money better is to use a company’s prepaid debit card. A 5.1 percent interest with a linked savings account is also available for Mango customers. Any customer of Mango that lives in Austin can pay bills, send international money, get salaries onto prepaid debit cards, withdraw cash from an ATM, use a self service kiosk to work on accounts or use debit cards with mobile options to send money or balances through text.
Starting a market with Mango money
By serving the unbanked and underbanked population, Mango Financial is going after a largely untapped market for financial services. There are 22.2 million families, or rather 20 percent of the U.S. population, considered unbanked because they do not have a financial institution set up and used regularly, reports the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI). 22 million on top of that use things such as check cashiers and payday lender to help with their financial services. 340 million financial service transactions like this have $ 13 billion spent to them every year.
Mango makes customers essential
Mango Financial is raising the bar for unbanked and underbanked services. The Mango Store in Austin is where the business will do best, reports Triplepundit. Mango wants the Austin store to be the first of many. CFSA founder Jennifer Tescher explained that Mango does well because it is interested in customer experience for those who normally wouldn’t get the special treatment. Tescher pointed out that Mango is thinking not only about what it offers, but how it’s offered. She said numerous young individuals are growing disenchanted with traditional banking, whether because of high fees or Wall Street greed. These individuals are the ones that are likely to be interested in the Mango Store.
Further reading
My Bank Tracker
mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2010/08/04/mango-financial-offers-banking-unbanked-interview-cofounder/
Center for Financial Services
cfsinnovation.com/
Triplepundit
triplepundit.com/2010/07/mango-moneys-mango-store-brings-retail-to-the-unbanked/
