“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.
Empower Financial discloses multi-bank (Freedom Bank of Virginia, Midland States Bank, Cornerstone Capital Bank SSB, Poppy Bank, WebBank, UMB Bank, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Citizens Community Federal, WaFd Bank, Truxton Trust Company, Banc of California, Union Bank and Trust Company, First Sentinel Bank, Northpointe Bank, Third Coast Bank, Associated Bank, CrossFirst Bank, OceanFirst Bank, East West Bank, MapleMark Bank, American Bank, Exchange Bank, Flagstar Bank, First Bank, Unity Bank, Axos Bank, Bell Bank, EagleBank) as its banking provider, with multi-bank (see banking_accounts.baas_provider) as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Empower Financial does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through multi-bank (see banking_accounts.baas_provider).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Empower Financial's stack: Banking / BaaS (multi-bank (Freedom Bank of Virginia, Midland States Bank, Cornerstone Capital Bank SSB, Poppy Bank, WebBank, UMB Bank, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Citizens Community Federal, WaFd Bank, Truxton Trust Company, Banc of California, Union Bank and Trust Company, First Sentinel Bank, Northpointe Bank, Third Coast Bank, Associated Bank, CrossFirst Bank, OceanFirst Bank, East West Bank, MapleMark Bank, American Bank, Exchange Bank, Flagstar Bank, First Bank, Unity Bank, Axos Bank, Bell Bank, EagleBank)); Lending (Empower Cash Advance and Petal Card credit line); Sponsor bank (multi-bank (see banking_accounts.baas_provider)).
Empower Financial was founded by Warren Hogarth and is founded in 2016, headquartered in Garden City, ID (formerly San Francisco, CA).
Empower Financial has raised unknown in total (latest round: Series C).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Empower Financial 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.