Miami neobank Fortú launches with Galileo Financial Technologies

Fortú, a new Miami-based neobank targeting the Latinx community, has selected payments processing services from Galileo Financial Technologies.

Fortú has raised $5 million in stealth mode

The challenger says it’s focused on building culturally contextual financial services. It aims to meet “the unique banking needs of Latinos and Hispanics in the US.”

Not to be confused with the UK-based wealth management app, Fortú was founded by Charles Yim, a former Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google executive, and Apolo Doca, who previously helped build Lemon Bank.

Fortú says its team is a mix of first- and second-generation immigrants with personal ties across Latin America.

The challenger has raised $5 million, spending the last year in stealth mode building its product. Its banking services are underpinned by FDIC member LendingClub Bank.

Doca says Latinos in the US are more likely to live in multigenerational and multilingual households. He adds a “significant percentage” need to send cross-border remittances, which creates an “over-reliance” on non-bank services.

“Latinos have unique challenges in managing finances, which is why we chose the flexibility of Galileo to build Fortú from the ground up.”

Galileo CEO Clay Wilkes says Fortú “has set itself apart from other neobanks, while transforming financial wellness for the Latino community”.

Galileo offers its Banking-as-a-Service (Baas) to emerging fintechs and financial institutions. SoFi acquired the firm in April 2020 in a $1.2 billion deal.

The company’s clients include UK firms Wise (formerly Transferwise) and Revolut, and major US fintech like Robinhood, Varo Money and BlueVine.

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