We raised $4.7M seed funding to Build Better banking for college students

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Firstcard

6 min readNov 15, 2023

In September 2023, we announced our $4.7M seed round from VCs and Angels such as AngelList Early Stage Quant Fund. On the heels of this fundraise, we also debuted our Credit Card to help students build better credit and get started on their financial journey early with safety guardrails at the forefront.

We want to share this blog post to provide more context and background stories on why we started Firstcard and how’s Firstcard different from other credit cards in the market.

You’ve probably heard of many credit card products before, but we’ve built Firstcard in a very different way compared to traditional banks and neo-banks for the masses — we’re focused on students and we build curated products specifically tailored to students. To put it simply, we put students first.

“We’re excited to be investors in Firstcard. We know from our hiring data that Firstcard has been among the very best startups for attracting top talent on Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent),” said Abraham Othman, PhD, at AngelList Early Stage Quant Fund.

Our Story

The company was founded by immigrant entrepreneur Kenji Niwa who was an MBA student at UC Berkeley Haas Business School after successfully selling his first startup in Japan. Kenji first-handedly experienced the challenges of getting financial products as an international student and witnessed the financial stress many local college students underwent.

The big problem

There are 20 million college students on American college campuses but a recent survey done by Firstcard revealed that 50% of college students do not have a credit card because they are afraid of overspending and application rejection. According to a recent FICO study, 29% of Gen Z consumers don’t have a credit score or don’t know if they have one.

But Firstcard understands that without good credit, everything becomes difficult and more expensive — from auto loans, mortgage, insurance rates to jobs applications and more. We also believe that a good credit score is an essential prerequisite for people’s financial future and everyone should have equal access to finance products, with or without credit history.

More importantly, we see that the credit issue is the epitome of the larger problem of a lack of financial education and tools for students. Only 22 states require students to take financial literacy courses, leaving many students unprepared to manage their own finances.

Opportunity

As its first step, we launched the Firstcard Credit Card to help students build better credit and get started on their financial journey early with safety guardrails at the forefront.

With Firstcard Credit Card, students can get a credit card and start building credit without worrying about their credit history, overspending, or application rejection. Additionally, Firstcard provides students with a bank account, lets them earn up to 15% cash back at selected merchants and soon grow savings with up to 4.25% APY with the launch of Firstcard+ (a $2.99 monthly subscription plan) — all within a single platform.

On top of that, Firstcard intends to build communities for college students and plans to offer financial aid and student loans in the future. Other upcoming features will include an artificial intelligence-powered financial advisor tool to enable users to save money and build credit by analyzing their financial behavior and offering solutions to earn bonus APY for savings. Moreover, it will provide financial education content.

We recognize the opportunity to be the primary bank and financial learning community for students. In the future, Firstcard will create a suite of financial products that are curated for students to help them take control of their financial future.

Features of the Firstcard Credit Card

Build and track credit scores: Firstcard reports to all 3 major credit bureaus so students can start building a strong credit history right away.

Get approval regardless of your credit background: Students don’t need to worry about credit history when applying for Firstcard.
Accept international students without an SSN: Firstcard accepts international students without an SSN. Firstcard believes in providing equal opportunities and financial access to all, and aims to empower students to kickstart their financial journey regardless of credit background.
Don’t worry about overspending: What you deposit is what you can spend. We aim to create financially healthy habits for student users.
Grow cash overtime: Earn 1.25% APY with Firstcard and 4.25% APY with Firstcard+ our $2.99 monthly subscription plan. *Not applicable for international students without an SSN at the moment.
Partners with selected merchants for cashback: Enjoy cashback rewards through our 29,000+ strong partners, many of whom are right on campus.
No annual fee. No minimum deposit. No overdraft fees. No late fees. Students’ financial journeys shouldn’t come with unexpected surprises. We believe in transparency and aligning interests with you.
Financial knowledge and learning. We are more than just a credit-building card. We curate personal finance content, education and community to help college students develop skills that will serve them beyond classrooms.

How are we different?

Firstcard is about students, not just about another credit card or neo-bank. We put students first and believe that in order for students to take control of their financial future, we need to provide students with the right financial tools and knowledge early on so they can be prepared for success.

We’re the only card that offers all these features for students: Build credit, higher than average APY (1.25% of all members and soon 4.25% APY with the launch of Firstcard Plus), up to 15% cashback at more than 29,000 partner merchants, no hidden fees, no interest, no minimum deposit requirement, and welcome international students without an SSN.
Transparent banking. We removed lots of typical banking fees to better align our financial incentives with the best interest of students. Yes, no interest, no minimum account deposit, and no late fees. And absolutely no hidden fees.
Students vs. Mass. We’ve built Firstcard in a very different way vs. traditional banks/neo banks for the mass — we’re focused on students and we build products curated for students. To put it simply, we put students first.
Community and campus networks. We intend to turn students’ financial journeys into a social experience and build communities alongside students’ financial journeys. This means that our members will enjoy Firstcard digital banking products while benefiting from the resources, social activities and alumni networks in the Firstcard community in the future.
A new culture. We believe that in order to truly empower the next generation to take control of their financial future, you need to change the culture. This means demystifying finance, breaking out of historical stereotypes that only finance majors and smart business students can manage finances, and bringing financial education to every student.

With this new round of funding, Firstcard plans to double-down on its student-first approach and scale its tech infrastructure and marketing efforts on college campuses. Upcoming features will include an AI “financial advisor” to help students save money and build credit by analyzing their financial behavior, a budgeting tool, financial aid and student loan solutions, ways to earn bonus APY for savings, financial education content, and other features that will support Firstcard’s commitment to helping students succeed in their financial future.

We’re looking forward to welcoming new students to Firstcard. Stay tuned and to be the first to know about Firstcard’s latest updates, visit firstcard.app.

We want to hear from you! You can download the app on both Apple and Android devices and share feedback with our team anytime by emailing support@firstcard.app.

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Disclosure:

Firstcard is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Regent Bank, Member FDIC. The Firstcard Credit Card is issued by Regent Bank, pursuant to a license from Mastercard.

The “Annual Percentage Rate” (“APY”) is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed APY is effective as of 8/30/2023. Cashback rewards will be credited to user’s Firstcard account once the transaction settles. See firstcard.app/cashback-policy.