Copper ended teen banking in 24 hours when Synapse failed, pivoting to its 'Earn' app

A fintech for teens and families that started as a banking platform and is moving to earning products and white-label software for banks

Copper had planned to pivot from banking to Earn, a product that lets users make money from surveys and games, and to white-label its family banking for banks

$42M raised in total, including $29M in 2022, from Fiat Ventures, Insight Partners, Index Ventures and others

Copper launched four years earlier with a banking platform for teens and families. It raised $29 million in 2022 when it had over 800,000 users and was a GeekWire Awards Startup of the Year finalist. CEO Eddie Behringer said it was already preparing to pivot away from banking toward Earn.

A week before May 12, 2024, Copper learned its banking middleware provider was ending service imminently. Synapse had filed for bankruptcy in April, and a planned acquisition by TabaPay fell through in May. On May 12 Behringer told customers the debit card and deposit accounts would be discontinued within 24 hours. A small subset of customers were locked out of funds, and Behringer said most got access quickly.

Copper accelerated a planned pivot away from banking. Revenue was up 160% year over year, driven mainly by Earn, and it planned white-label SaaS deals with banks that want a family banking and financial education product. It had 30 employees and was hiring.

Synapse, Copper's middleware for deposit accounts, ceased service and entered bankruptcy

Copper's strategy had already shifted to Earn, so closing banking fit the plan

Earn drove 160% revenue growth, giving it a base to continue

Copper's banking product depended on one middleware vendor, so Synapse's failure forced a shutdown it was already planning but on a far shorter timeline.

As of May 21, 2024 Copper had ended banking services, a small number of customers were still locked out of funds, and it was pursuing Earn and white-label partnerships.