Founded in 2018 out of the Barclays' accelerator program, Cogni initially aimed to build banking services for Gen Z and millennial users but has since pivoted into web3, following in the footsteps of other neobanks such as Revolut, N26 and Step.
Currently, Cogni's wallet acts as a shell that allows users to simply hold, send and receive crypto, but a forthcoming partnership with an as-yet-unnamed exchange will let users purchase crypto in-app.
As founder Archie Ravishankar observed, most of the digital banks which provide crypto services right now go through an external provider and then the provider connects to an exchange. This means that the average consumer using these neobanks to purchase crypto loses out, as fintech firms are forced to charge extra transaction fees.
Neobanks have so far largely sought to build out crypto investment tools via custodial solutions provided by third-party crypto service providers. Revolut has endeavoured to launch its own standalone DeFi wallet app, but the product is yet to materialize.
Cogni's wallet, which is integrated with a bank account, will connect directly to an exchange which allows the company to provide institutional rates to regular customers. Cogni's wallet is built alongside its pre-existing banking services in the app. This means that users can view everyday transactions and bills — ticket purchases, grocery bills and paychecks — alongside on-chain transactions in one interface.
The startup is also looking to dive deeper into NFTs with an integration that will be rolled out after the wallet's launch. There are plans in the pipeline to allow NFT-based profile pictures.
Back in April Cogni raised a USD 23 million funding round to bring web2 and web3 services together on one platform. The company, at the time, offered core banking services such as deposit accounts for free to its customers through a borrowed bank charter, such as other neobanks do. It also offered two lifestyle-oriented products – discounted digital gift cards to brands such as Adidas and Sephora that it sources through an aggregator and a feature that calculates a person’s carbon emissions based on their transactions. The company served customers in the United States.
Back then Cogni also announced plans to launch a multi-chain wallet, offering its users access to an exchange to trade their cryptocurrency through a partnership.
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