US · USD
United States digital banks
Most US “neobanks” are fintechs with a partner bank. Chime is not a bank — Bancorp and Stride are. Cash App is not a bank — Sutton Bank and Lincoln Savings are. That distinction is the highest-intent query cluster in US digital banking, and it is also the safety question that matters. FDIC pass-through insurance only works if the partner is an insured bank and the records are in order (Synapse showed what happens when they are not). This country page separates chartered digital banks (SoFi Bank, Varo Bank, Ally) from partner-bank fintechs, and flags crypto platforms that are broker-dealers, not banks.
34Live on the desk
Regulator
OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, FinCEN, state banking departments
Deposit scheme
FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category
In this market
Licence still sits on the product| Product | Score | HQ | Monthly | FX | Users | Licence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Interactive Brokers | 8.6 | Greenwich, United States | No inactivity on many accounts | Institutional-grade FX; a reason people open it | 3.3M accounts | Broker-dealer / FCM | |
 Wise | 8.6 | London, United Kingdom | Free personal | Mid-market plus a transparent conversion fee — the category benchmark | 16M+ | EMI (personal) | |
 Revolut | 8.6 | London, United Kingdom | Free | Fair-usage weekday mid-market; weekend markup on Standard | 50M+ | UK bank (eligible customers) | |
 Airwallex | 8.3 | Singapore, Singapore | Account often free | Transparent conversion + payment fees; typically beats banks | 150k businesses | Payments / EMI-class licences by market | |
 Monzo | 8.1 | London, United Kingdom | Free | Fee-free FX up to plan caps, then a markup | 11M+ | UK bank | |
 Kraken | 7.9 | San Francisco, United States | Maker-taker | Tight on majors vs retail Coinbase | 13M+ | US MSB + exchange | |
 Ramp | 7.8 | New York, United States | Software + card; pricing by plan | FX on overseas card spend | 40k businesses | Commercial card programme | |
 SoFi | 7.7 | San Francisco, United States | Free Checking & Savings | International ATM/spend fees apply | 10M+ | National bank charter (SoFi Bank, N.A.) | |
 Ally Bank | 7.7 | Detroit, United States | $0 on core spend/save | Not a travel FX product | Direct-bank scale | Ally Bank, Member FDIC, national bank | |
 Trust Wallet | 7.6 | Global, United States | Free | Swap aggregator | 200M+ | See review | |
 Exodus | 7.6 | Omaha, United States | Free wallet | Swap partner spread | 4M+ | See review | |
 Mercury | 7.6 | San Francisco, United States | Free core operations | International wires priced; not a FX specialist | 200k businesses | Fintech with partner banks | |
 Coinbase | 7.5 | San Francisco, United States | Free to hold | Spread on the retail app; Advanced is tighter | 100M+ | MSB + state money transmitter / trust | |
 Relay | 7.4 | Toronto / US ops, Canada | Free core | USD ops | Tens of thousands of firms | Fintech with partner banks | |
 MetaMask | 7.4 | New York, United States | Free | MetaMask Swaps aggregator fee | 100M+ | See review | |
| Wahed | 7.3 | New York, United States | AUM fee on portfolios (live rate on site) | Conversion inside the portfolio, not a Wise clone | 300k+ | Investment adviser / manager — confirm the local entity | |
 Brex | 7.3 | San Francisco, United States | Card program; rewards-funded for eligible start-ups | Competitive on the card; not Wise | Tens of thousands of firms | Commercial card + treasury partners | |
 Found | 7.3 | San Francisco, United States | Free core | US domestic | Self-employed base | Fintech with partner banks | |
 Kast | 7.3 | Singapore, Singapore | Free virtual | Stablecoin conversion + scheme FX | Tens of thousands of firms | Stablecoin account + Visa BIN | |
 GoHenry | 7.3 | London, United Kingdom | Monthly per child / family plan | Overseas spend fees | 2M families | EMI / prepaid programme | |
 Varo Bank | 7.2 | San Francisco, United States | No monthly on core checking | US domestic | 7M+ | National bank charter | |
 Privacy.com | 7.2 | New York, United States | Free personal | USD only | 2M+ | Card programme | |
 Crypto.com | 7.2 | Singapore, Singapore | Card tiers gated by CRO stake (terms change — verify) | FX on card + spread on crypto sell | 80M+ | Exchange + card programme by market | |
 Wirex | 7.1 | London, United Kingdom | Free + paid X-tras | Crypto sell + scheme FX | 6M+ | EMI (UK) | |
 Chime | 7.1 | San Francisco, United States | Free | Not a travel product | 22M+ | Partner-bank fintech | |
 Current | 7.0 | New York, United States | Free | US domestic | 4M+ | Fintech with partner banks | |
 Bluevine | 7.0 | Jersey City, United States | Free checking SKU; factoring and extras priced | US domestic first | 500k+ businesses | Fintech with partner banks | |
 Novo | 6.9 | New York, United States | Free checking | US domestic | 200k+ businesses | Fintech with partner banks | |
 Adro | 6.7 | New York, United States | Confirm live student SKU | Not the job — this is a US dollar account | Campus-scale | Fintech. Banking services via Stearns Bank, N.A., Member FDIC | |
 PEX Card | 6.6 | Tennessee, United States | Program-priced per card / user | US-first; overseas on scheme | Enterprises / programs | Prepaid / commercial card programme | |
 Arival | 6.4 | San Juan, United States | Business plans — confirm live | Corridor pricing, not mid-market magic | SME-scale | International Financial Entity — Arival Bank International Corp., licence #IFE-065 | |
 BankMobile / Vibe | 6.1 | Wayne, PA / North Carolina, United States | $3.99 unless $300 qualifying deposits — financial-aid refunds do not count | Not a travel product | 700+ partner campuses | Fintech. Banking services via First Carolina Bank, Member FDIC. BM Technologies, Inc. | |
 Albert | 5.9 | Los Angeles, United States | $19.99–$39.99 subscription plans (auto-renew) — the actual price | Not a travel product | Consumer fintech scale | Not a bank. Cash via Sutton Bank / Stride Bank, N.A.; savings at Wells Fargo, N.A. | |
 Atmos | 5.3 | Oakland, United States | Loan product, not an account fee | Not the job | Lending marketplace | Fintech. Not a bank. Not a lender — marketplace for bank and credit-union loans |
Closed in this market
Graveyard| Product | Score | HQ | Monthly | FX | Users | Licence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight | 5.0 | New York, United States | Was monthly | — | Closed | BaaS fintech | |
| Prizepool | 5.2 | United States, United States | — | — | Closed | BaaS | |
| Synapse | 4.1 | San Francisco, United States | — | — | End-users at fintechs | BaaS middleware | |
| BlockFi | 4.5 | New Jersey, United States | — | — | Bankrupt | Lending / crypto (failed) | |
| FTX | 5.2 | Nassau / Hong Kong, Bahamas | — | — | Bankrupt | See review | |
| Celsius | 4.5 | New Jersey, United States | — | — | Bankrupt | See review |
Do not open. Full file sits in the graveyard.
Questions
Is Chime FDIC insured?+–
Chime itself is not a bank. Eligible deposits are held at partner banks (The Bancorp Bank, N.A. and Stride Bank, N.A.) and are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through those banks. Confirm the current partners in the app, because they can change.
What is a BaaS collapse risk?+–
Banking-as-a-service middleware (Synapse is the case study) can freeze end-user funds even when the underlying banks are solvent. Prefer products that name the insured depository clearly and keep ledger records at that bank.
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