A financial revolution is long overdue

The arrival of BankSocial has been years in the making and they are now poised to completely modernize the existing financial landscape. This need for modernization has largely been driven by the fact that traditional finance has struggled to keep pace with the evolving needs of modern consumers. And the move to embrace technologies to better support these consumers has been too slow – often at the expense of those they are trying to serve.

One of the core challenges identified by the BankSocial team lies in the dependency that traditional financial institutions have on web2 technologies and their limitations. These web2 platforms were intended to provide a more accessible and user-friendly financial ecosystem. However, they have fallen short in crucial areas. Security breaches and data leaks have become a persistent concern, eroding trust, and exposing consumers to financial vulnerability. Furthermore, the very nature of web2 concentrates control over user data in the hands of large banks, raising concerns about privacy and data sovereignty.

Additionally, consumers are feeling frustrated by the out-of-control fees and opaque pricing structures for services that these institutions offer. All of this has led to what BankSocial believes is the perfect storm for disruption. A disruption that they are excited to bring to the masses.

How BankSocial got started

The BankSocial origin story starts with the launch of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Initially envisioned as a community-governed platform promoting financial inclusion and leveraging distributed ledger technology (DLT) as its foundation, this early iteration of BankSocial was able to make the team’s goal to empower individuals with control over their financial data and assets a reality. Once this was achieved, they quickly recognized that they needed to establish strategic partnerships that would help them move from this initial community offering and gain traction with established financial institutions in order to gain broader adoption, and credit unions were a natural fit.

Sharing a commitment to financial inclusion and a member-centric philosophy, credit unions proved to be ideal partners. Through this collaboration, BankSocial was able to launch the first-ever self-custody exchange specifically designed for credit unions. This evolution of their platform empowered credit unions to offer their members a secure and transparent way for them to have individual control over their accounts and to also access and trade digital assets. A huge leap forward for these financial institutions and also yet another success for the BankSocial team.

BankSocial’s vision extends beyond credit unions. They firmly believe in the principles of open banking, which offers the promise of a simple, secure way to help you move, manage and make more of your money, while also ensuring that financial data can be shared – with consent – securely and seamlessly between regulated participants such as banks and third-party service providers, such as fintech apps. This vision stands in stark contrast to the traditional, closed ecosystems of many financial institutions. Open banking fosters competition and innovation, ultimately benefiting the consumer by providing a wider range of financial products and services at potentially lower costs.

Additionally, BankSocial champions the concept of non-custodial banking, where users retain complete control over their private keys and digital assets. This approach empowers individuals, removing the reliance on third-party institutions to safeguard their financial holdings.

What products does BankSocial offer?

BankSocial is laser focused on delivering a system that empowers banking customers with a user experience that gives them greater control over their finances and data, while simultaneously fostering a more secure and inclusive financial ecosystem. To that end, they are bringing to market products and services that are making this a reality, spanning everything from their wallet app, to identity verification, to a digital asset exchange, and much more. Let’s take a closer look at what they have on offer.

It all starts with the BankSocial wallet app, which acts as a hub that seamlessly connects a user to all of BankSocial products and services. It is designed to be an incredibly user-friendly, highly secure gateway to a web3 financial experience. With an intuitive interface, it allows users to effortlessly access DeFi tools that allow them to manage any of their digital assets, tokenized securities, and cryptocurrencies – even enabling staking of crypto. This unified approach abstracts the fact that the users are navigating web3 technologies and presents the experience in a way that is familiar and frictionless.

From an identity verification perspective, BankSocial's Veriified platform tackles the challenge of secure and efficient user verification, which is critical for credit unions to be able to onboard new members in an efficient way. Veriified streamlines the Know Your Customer (KYC) process by integrating seamlessly with existing core systems used by credit unions and digital banking platforms. This totally removes friction for new members and eliminates the need for manual verification. Veriified also leverages AI and advanced tools to combat fraud, protecting both credit unions and their members from fraudulent activity. Veriified offers a faster, more secure, and cost-effective solution for user onboarding and KYC, boosting trust and efficiency within the BankSocial ecosystem.

With the previously described success of their exchange with their credit union partners, BankSocial has proven to the market that they can deliver a secure and user-managed alternative to traditional crypto exchanges that also operates on a self-custody model. This means users hold the private keys to their crypto, giving them complete control of their crypto holdings. This self-custody approach, combined with BankSocial's focus on security, offers a safer and more transparent crypto trading experience for users who value control and sovereignty over their digital assets.

For those financial institutions and credit unions that are partnering with BankSocial in order to make web3 offerings available to their members, this entire experience can be highly customized. They are able to white label the wallet app, meaning the app can be tailored to seamlessly reflect the credit union's own branding and logo. This is crucial for maintaining member trust and familiarity. Since members will interact with an interface that feels like an extension of their existing credit union experience, this will help make adoption of BankSocial’s services smoother and foster deeper engagement.

Why Hedera?

The founders of BankSocial felt that the Hedera DLT was the right fit from the very beginning as it aligned perfectly with the core tenets of BankSocial's mission.

First, Hedera's network is able to deliver exceptional performance, capable of handling high transaction volumes at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional blockchains. This is crucial for financial institutions, where efficiency and predictable transaction fees are vital. Businesses and individuals alike can benefit from the network's ability to handle a high volume of transactions without sacrificing affordability.

Another key driver is that Hedera's security is unmatched. By using an asynchronous byzantine fault tolerant (aBFT) consensus mechanism, the Hedera network guarantees finality and immutability of transactions, offering bank-grade security for BankSocial's platform and its users. This robust security architecture safeguards sensitive financial data and ensures trust within the BankSocial ecosystem.

Finally, Hedera's governance model is designed for enterprise adoption. Its governing council is composed of reputable industry leaders that work collaboratively to ensure the stability and continuous improvement of the Hedera network. By choosing Hedera, BankSocial gains the backing of a reputable and well-governed ecosystem which is very important to their users and the financial organizations that they are working closely with.

What does the future look like with BankSocial?

The future is looking very exciting for Banksocial. They are currently in the late stages, preparing to launch their DEFY Federal Credit Union (FCU), which aims to be the first digital-native credit union, built entirely on the foundations of DLT. This means it would leverage the security and transparency of a distributed ledger for its operations. Unlike traditional credit unions, DEFY FCU would focus on serving the global web3 community, including individuals and businesses involved in cryptocurrency and other decentralized technologies. Membership would provide access to a suite of financial services that include secure self-custody for crypto holdings, streamlined user verification, and potentially, asset-backed loans with crypto as collateral.

Additionally, BankSocial is introducing a wallet and identity security solution called Secura, which is a highly innovative distributed key storage protocol. Unlike traditional methods of credential management where passwords and keys are stored centrally, Secura fragments this information using sophisticated hashing techniques. These fragments are then distributed and stored securely across various devices, including credit union baking cores. This novel approach eliminates the risk of a single point of failure for credit union members, while also making it incredibly difficult for anyone to steal their data.

BankSocial has also been massively successful with their approach to outreach going forward as well. They have developed marketing partnerships with Envisant, a credit union service organization, and Cornerstone League, a trade association for credit unions in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. With these relationships, which will allow BankSocial to have exclusive outreach to over 70% of the credit unions in the US, they are poised to engage with millions of new credit union members.

BankSocial stands as a testament to the transformative potential of web3 in democratizing finance. Their innovative approach to bridging the gap between traditional finance and the world of DeFi is paving the way not just for credit unions, but for anyone seeking a more transparent and empowered financial experience, and Hedera is excited to be a part of this future.