This is Not Your Grandfather's Bank
It’s not easy being an influencer. Okay, okay – perhaps “easy” is relative. Let’s get specific. If the six-figure sums earned by some TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch superstars each month boggle their parents, they really stump bankers. Applying for a business credit card for an operation that consists of playing video games? That’s a hard one for many banks to understand.
The Bank for Influencers
Enter: Karat Financial. The new financial services company exists for a specific clientele: creators. No, not people who make potholders out of yarn. Digital creators. Influencers.
The bank is the result of new challenges posed by a new industry. Among them: renting an apartment. One of Karat’s customers learned just how unstable his 2.7 million-strong YouTube audience was in the eyes of money folks. Renting an apartment requires proof of income – employment income, ideally. Income from people on the internet? That’s hard for a landlord to fathom.
Karat appears to be onto something. They just raised $26 million in funding to, well, fund the lives of people who make their living entertaining and educating others on the web. The niche banks reminds us of another bank: Young American’s Bank.
Young American’s Bank
Young American’s Bank is a brilliant bank with another niche clientele: kids. The young entrepreneurs who bring their deposits to the Denver branch face something rarely offered at other banks: confident service for teen tycoons. We had the joy of visiting Young American’s Bank for an episode of Biz Kid$. Check it out here:
Take it to the Bank (Free Lesson Plan)
Want to learn more about banking? Our episode and free lesson plan has everything you need to know.
