London-based startup Soldo has launched a multi-user spending account that lets families and businesses share access to, and manage, their money.
Soldo allows an account holder to define a network of spenders, with each member then receiving access to the wallet app and a Mastercard debit card. These spenders can then spend the account's money but the holder can set budgets and rules for individual spenders.
While Soldo says that it wants to crack the business market, it is initially targeting families. For example, the account holder's partner may have full control over spending limits, but a teenage child may have a daily allowance limit, while a childcare provider may have use of the card during the hours of their employment with pre-defined spending limits.
Users get real-time spending alerts and, with a single tap, the owner can enable or disable online transactions, cash withdrawals and overseas spending.
Set up by serial tech entrepreneur Carlo Gualandri, Soldo has been operating in stealth beta for 18 months and has a seven figure seed round under its belt. The startup is now ready to launch, initially in the UK and CEO Gualandri's home market of Italy, ahead of a wider European rollout.
The firm has built its own cloud-based, full stack technology and while not a bank has an electronic money license as well as being regulated by the UK's FCA.
"Soldo is not looking to disrupt the universal banking system, nor is it looking to compete for traditional banks’ customers. We have identified a problem that is common to many families and businesses and created a simple solution that will work alongside customers’ current banking systems," says Gualandri.