Comun, a NewYork City-based neobank focused on the Latin-American population, has secured $4.5 million in Seed funding led by Costanoa Ventures.
The round also witnessed participation from South Park Commons and FJ Labs. The company plans to use the funds to build a financial hub with expanded solutions and resources for Latino immigrants in the US.
Although 44 million Hispanics in the US speak Spanish as their first language, no established bank provides a complete Spanish language banking experience.
Latinos are twice as likely to be victims of predatory lending and three times as potential to be unbanked. Presently, 41 percent of Latinos do not have a credit score, which restricts their ability to advance financially.
Latinos in the United States have a GDP of $2.8 trillion, which, according to the Center for Economic Research & Forecasting 2022 US Report, is equivalent to the fifth largest economy in the world.
“We built Comun to make it easier to thrive as an immigrant family in the US. Banking is a gateway to accessing many vital services to a person’s livelihood. My co-founder and I experienced how challenging it can be to navigate the banking system as immigrants,” said Andres Santos, Co-Founder & CEO of Comun.
Andres continued, “With a financial partner they can trust and understand, our goal is to empower families to be successful in both their finances and the US.”
Comun aims to promote financial inclusion
Abiel Gutierrez and Andres Santos founded Comun in 2021 to allow Spanish-speaking Latino immigrants to open a bank account using their passports from their cell phones.
It provides a Visa debit card, direct payroll deposits, free ATM withdrawals and deposits, a user interface designed with Spanish speakers in mind, and round-the-clock customer service. Also, the portal offers educational materials to help customers manage their finances.
Unlike conventional banks, Comun provides all aspects of the banking experience in Spanish, eliminating one of the main barriers for the Hispanic community to accessing the necessary financial services.
“There is a huge opportunity for financial products that better fit the needs of multi-generational, Latino families in the US. People want their bank to understand them, and Comun is building a digital bank for a large and growing first and second-generation Latinos,” said Mark Selcow, Partner at Costanoa Ventures.
Comun is on a mission to enable upward mobility for Latinos in the US. The neo-bank provides Latino immigrants access to traditional financial services to propagate financial stability within the community.
