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Yolt to close consumer app to focus on open banking tech platform

ING Bank-backed Yolt is shutting down its consumer-facing smart money app in order to focus on its open banking technology platform.

3 comments

Yolt to close consumer app to focus on open banking tech platform

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

Launched in 2017, Yolt has since garnered more than 1.5 million registered users who are currently able to see their various bank accounts in one place, enabling them to track their spending, set budgets and identify where they can make savings.

However, ING says that after evaluating the business it has decided to close the app and instead focus its resources on the Yolt Technology Service part of the business, and getting its proprietary open banking technology into the hands of businesses.

Nicolas Weng Kan, CEO, Yolt, says: “Our mission has always been to accelerate the adoption of open banking. We want to give financial control to as many people and businesses as possible, empowering them to make more informed choices that help them achieve better financial health, create opportunities and make it possible to fulfil their potential.

"Focussing on Yolt Technology Services is a faster and more effective way of driving change."

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Comments: (3)

A Finextra member 

...and to earn revenue by making the tech platform available to companies that will pay for it, while the consumer app users will not pay for the usage. 

Guang Deng

Guang Deng Founder & CEO at iSpent19

Ultimately it is a commerical decision, and pivot like this happened before in the OB sector. Money, competition and USPs are all at play.

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

Further proof that budgeting, categorizing spend, escaping bankruptcy by avoiding that $4.99 coffee etc. really don't float people's boats. Even without any Open Banking regulatory mandate, around 80M Americans have shared their banking data with third party apps in return for free overdraft, stock trading, automated savings, etc. Seems quite clear where open banking has its strongest value proposition.

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