Neobanks Must Bundle Debit Credit Lending
Anthony Peculic, Head of Cards at Cross River Bank, on building a fintech one-stop shop
The survival test for neobanks is whether they can turn one cheap entry product into a full consumer finance stack. Debit gets users in the door because it is easy to adopt and generates steady interchange, but credit and small dollar lending are where revenue per user rises and retention improves. Once a customer deposits paychecks, uses a debit card, builds credit, and borrows occasionally in the same app, the company has more ways to make money and fewer chances to lose that customer to a bank or rival app.
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Chime followed this playbook. It started with fee free debit and early paycheck access, then added Credit Builder and explored small direct deposit linked loans because credit interchange is richer than debit and lending adds another revenue stream on top of interchange.
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Startup neobanks show the same pattern on the business side. Mercury pairs checking with cards, treasury, wires, FX, and venture debt, while Brex layers cards with expense software. The common logic is to use the primary account as the hub, then attach higher margin products around it.
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Vertical finance products like Gusto Wallet fit this same model, just inside payroll software instead of a consumer banking app. Gusto already owns the paycheck flow, so adding accounts, cards, earned wage access, and later lending lets it monetize the same user beyond payroll processing.
The next phase is a rebundling of banking around software distribution. The winners are likely to look less like single feature debit apps and more like focused digital banks, or payroll and vertical SaaS platforms, that control a daily workflow and then add cards, credit, and cash management on top of it.