“Can a community-focused neobank designed for Asian-Americans and immigrants eliminate fee discrimination and deliver culturally relevant banking?”
Founded in 2021 by Ken Lian, a Chinese immigrant who experienced banking discrimination and high fees firsthand, Cheese launched as a community-focused neobank serving Asian-Americans and immigrants in the U.S. The platform offers zero-fee, rewards-based banking with a social cause component, enabling customers to support Asian-American and immigrant-owned businesses. The company raised $3.6M in seed funding and built its infrastructure on BaaS provider Synapse Credit LLC. Evidence beyond the initial 2021 launch is thin, suggesting limited subsequent public development.
Cheese discloses Synapse as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Cheese does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Synapse.
Cheese was founded by Ken Lian and is founded in 2021, headquartered in Pasadena, CA, USA.
Cheese has raised $3.6M in total (latest round: Seed, March 2021).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Cheese and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.