Australia based neobank Douugh Ltd (ASX:DOU) has launched its app in the US following a partnership with Mastercard. Douugh reports that it has been in beta with U.S. consumers since early-2019 and is now officially launching to the wider market.
Douugh Founder and CEO, Andy Taylor commented:
“We are following in the footsteps of successful international fintechs Afterpay and Xero by listing early in our growth cycle on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Similar to the path of their fundraising, this allows us access to capital while building valuation.”
Douugh says it offers an FDIC-insured smart bank account and Mastercard/Apple Pay enabled debit card. The app leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to a user’s personal income and spending data to tailor an individual financial solution that helps users spend wisely, save more, and hopefully build wealth.
Taylor said that the beta period uncovered that one of their users biggest pain points is keeping track of fixed and recurring expenses – especially subscriptions – thus the addition of a new feature called Bills Jar.
“Bills Jar flags upcoming bills, allowing customers to sweep in funds and use the dedicated virtual card to become the principal card on file to pay recurring bills, outside of the main Douugh checking account,” said Taylor. “It’s a key foundational component, along with our integrated Saving Jars, Rainy Day Jar and Spending Targets, which allows our users to better manage their money and stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. A task that will become automated and self-learning over time with the introduction of Autopilot.”