ID requirements, high fees and language gaps have long prevented some Latino immigrants from opening bank accounts in the United States. Comun I want to change that.

The New York-based neobank is a modern bank that offers banking services customized to the needs of immigrants. While many traditional banks require customers to provide a U.S. social security card or proof of address (such as a mortgage or utility bill), Comun allows customers to provide 100 different forms of identification in Latin America, including foreign passports. The certificate can be used to apply for an account.

Andres Santos and Aviel Gutierrez founded Comun in early 2022 to provide digital banking services such as instant payments, check deposits, and early payroll. They also wanted to give their customers 24/7 access to native Spanish speakers.

“Our mission is to bring local banking back to American immigrants,” Santos told TechCrunch. “We think this is a model that has continued to become obsolete at an alarming rate over the past 30 years. Basically, ‘too big to fail’ has taken away the lion’s share of the market share, shifting from 20,000 banks to I’ve seen it grow to less than 5,000 rows.”

Aviel Gutierrez and Andres Santos, co-founders of Comun. Image credits: Comun

Santos also explained that some banks were considering immigration during this time. But that group usually gets left behind because it doesn’t fit the model of potential customers you’re chasing.

“We want to reimagine local banking in the digital space, and that means communities and their unique needs to offer better products,” Komun added.

Banks make money from interest on deposits and from convenience fees to facilitate instant transactions similar to peer-to-peer transactions. It also began direct banking integration last month, which Santos said is growing rapidly and “already driving about 25% of our revenue and volume.” Comun also plans to collect fees on transactions once it launches a pilot remittance program that allows migrants to send money from the U.S. to Latin America.

The Commune is not the only one targeting immigrants. We partner with companies like Tanda, Bloom Money, Majority, Welcome Tech, and Pillar to help solve banking accessibility issues.

We are also participating in attracting venture capital for our approach. Today, Comun announced an additional $4.5 million in funding, bringing its total raised to $9 million. The latest investment was led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from a group of existing investors including Animo Ventures, South Park Commons, and FJ Labs.

In addition to offering a variety of identification methods to open an account, the company differentiates itself from competitors through its partnership with Community Federal Savings Bank. Santos said having direct relationships with banks allows Comun to quickly add new services in a compliant manner.

Comun has also developed a large network of partners that support cash deposits and withdrawals at over 90,000 physical locations.

The concept stuck. The bank not only achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 86, more than four times the industry average in terms of customer satisfaction, but also achieved a 60% month-over-month revenue increase. Through the platform he has processed over $75 million.

Mr. Santos and Mr. Gutierrez plan to use the new funding to hire additional employees, expand Comun’s banking services, launch new products including insurance, and eventually launch credit and underwriting operations. .