Banking today is a competitive world, where it’s difficult to truly differentiate between the loan or asset side. According to American Bankers, the deposit side of the balance sheet, however, is going through a radical generational shift, with millennials constituting over 40% of the U.S. workforce by 2022. How banks choose to leverage mobile banking technology—more than being an industry “hot topic”—is a key competitive differentiator, one that can substantively fortify a bank’s core deposit franchise and its M&A valuation. Beam is here to provide a proven solution.
Driven by a mission to inspire justice and simplicity in banking and beyond, Beam provides a bolt-on, software-asa-service, referral-based mobile banking solution to banks looking to build and differentiate on their consumer core deposit franchise. Beam leverages state-of-the-art technology that can help a bank implement an in-house direct banking business with no substantive upfront capital investment, marketing, IT or staffing costs. It’s the “Marcus by Goldman Sachs” equivalent for ambitious community banks who wants to be a part of the millennial future.
Leading from the Front
Aaron Du is the Founder and CEO of Beam. Du has more than 16 years of experience working in the financial services and digital technology industries as well as extensive experience as a web/mobile product designer and a technology entrepreneur. Prior to Beam Financial Inc., Du founded and built an internet e-commerce business in Asia which attracted over $50 million in venture investments. The company eventually grew to an operation involving 4,500 full-time employees across 102 cities and generated over $180 million in annual revenue.
Prior to his career in technology, Du worked at a variety of premier financial firms, including private equity at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, where he was involved in a number of investments in the retail banking and technology sectors, and investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., first in its Financial Institutions & Governments group and later in its Mergers & Acquisitions group. Du’s other financial service experience include stints at Merrill Lynch and W.R. Hambrecht & Co.
Du received his M. Eng. and S.B. degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, as well as an S.B. degree in Economics, from MIT, where he graduated with honors with his education fully sponsored by the Teh Ching Li Foundation Scholarship. Du received his MBA degree from Harvard Business School, and studied at Cambridge University in its Faculty of Economics and Politics.
A Beam of Vision and Innovation
Beam envisions a future in which it becomes a trusted household name for millions of U.S. consumers. The organization is devoted to this vision and has demonstrated a knack for balancing software engineering and financial engineering to solve problems for consumer depositors and financial institutions.
HOW BEAM WORKS—Jack’s Beam Journey
- Start. A prospective depositor, Jack, is referred by a friend who uses Beam to https://meetbeam.com and signs up the free, no-obligation “Beta” email waitlist.
- After a few weeks Jack receives an email to open a “Beta” account at Beam, which is FDIC-insured by Beam’s bank partner. Jack downloads the Beam app on his phone, and within 30 seconds, completes the KYC process which includes a live Driver’s License verification. Beam then swiftly walks Jack through an animated tutorial, guiding him through how to fund Beam with a single swipe, and start earning.
- But journey doesn’t end here. All Beam users receive a guaranteed 2% “Base Rate” and there are several ways to use the Beam app to boosts the reward rate through an innovative, playable “Billie system”:
- Every day from 6—9PM, Jack receives a free “Billie” which is a reward token that boosts his daily rate above 2%, sometimes over 4% daily rate. Jack can also accumulate Billies for later use.
- For each friend he refers to Beam’s free, noobligation email waitlist, Jack earns 3 more Billies.
- Interest rewards are paid daily, and Beam makes it easy for Jack to check his daily earnings and whom he had referred.
- With only a few taps, Jack can share a Beam invite link right from his Beam app to his friends. Friends of Jack can download Beam from App Store of Play Store right away, which sets them up for a Beam “Trial” account and also adds them to the “Beta” waitlist. While waiting for “Beta”, they can also refer friends to join the waitlist. For each referral, they not only move up their waitlist spots, but also earn the same 3-Billie reward. The journey repeats.
WHAT BEAM VALUES
In the modern era, where simplicity and customer word-of-mouth are everything, offering an innovative approach to essential but time-consuming banking necessities is commendable. Banking industry veterans around the world have recognized the same and have expressed admiration for Beam’s innovative services and millennial-friendly solutions. Beam’s core values and the beliefs of the company have played a vital part in its remarkable success.
According to Beam some of its vital attributes are:
The most important aspects of Beam that govern everything from Beam’s grand vision to its day to day operations are its laser-sharp focus on prioritizing its resources to promote efficiency, soundness in making good decisions with independent, rational thinking, bringing a rigorous A-Game approach to maintain excellence and success, and finally exemplary service which is the heart of what Beam does.
Overcoming Adversities and Assuring Future
Beam believes banking innovation takes time and changing banking is a marathon, not a sprint. Ensuring customers of innovation and it significance during the practice phase has been the major challenge for the company since its inception.
However, the combination of expertise overlaying banking repertoire and software repertoire is what differentiates Beam from its competitors. By creating these solutions, the company envisions becoming a trusted household name in banking by 2022.
