Empower Financial
“Can an AI-powered consumer finance app own the full credit and banking journey for financially underserved millennials — from cash advance and budgeting to card and deposit products — without holding a bank charter?”
Founded in 2016 as an AI-plus-human-advisor personal finance app, Empower Finance expanded from budgeting and financial planning into embedded banking (checking, savings) and cash advance products. The 2024 acquisition of Petal Card, Inc. marked a pivot toward full-spectrum consumer credit. By 2025, the company was operating under the Tilt Finance name per public registries while still trading externally as Empower, consolidating affiliates Empower Finance, Inc., Empower Lending, LLC, and Petal Card, Inc. under a single privacy umbrella. The company relies on a multi-bank BaaS model—evidenced by relationships with more than a dozen partner banks—rather than holding its own charter.