“Can a BaaS-powered neobank democratize credit access for the credit-invisible — international students, immigrants, and foreigners — in the US?”
Founded in 2020, Firstcard targeted an underserved demographic — international students, immigrants, and credit-invisible individuals — with a secured credit builder card requiring no SSN or credit check. The company expanded beyond the card to offer a full banking platform including savings accounts with competitive APY and cashback rewards, effectively becoming a neobank for the credit-invisible. The FDIC-insured deposits are held at Regent Bank, and banking infrastructure is powered by Synctera, indicating a BaaS-stack approach rather than charter-seeking.