ABOVE: Daylight co-founders Paul Barnes-Hoggett, Rob Curtis and Billie Simmons. Photo courtesy Daylight.
TAMPA BAY | After nearly 3,000 people in Tampa Bay and Central Florida sought its services this year, the LGBTQ-focused virtual bank Daylight is hoping to queer banking for the better nationwide.
Daylight launched its campaign in St. Petersburg Oct. 31, introducing local businesses, nonprofits and community members to branchless banking “for you and your chosen family.” It promised to reward users for safely spending in line with their values and investing in their own futures.
“We are a mobile-first digital bank, which means that customers can open an account, receive their card and manage their bank account fully on their mobile,” Daylight CEO Rob Curtis explains. “Being mobile first gives us the opportunity to do many more interesting things with technology that step outside of the traditional model of what a bank does.”
Curtis founded the bank along with Billie Simmons and Paul Barnes-Hoggett, fellow LGBTQ millennials who sought to reach those who are underserved in the industry. Daylight says that while LGBTQ Americans have $1 trillion in spending power, 53% of the community struggles to maintain a regular savings.
“When it comes to your wellbeing, you seek out LGBTQ doctors, therapists, mentors and even bartenders,” the bank’s website reads. “People who just get it. Daylight is that for your financial wellbeing and money is just the beginning … We’re building Daylight around our unique needs: different timelines, different kinds of families, different goals and different futures.”
Their model is tailored to empower members of the LGBTQ community in a number of ways. Among the services offered, Daylight analyzes how LGBTQ-friendly a user’s spending habits are – pulling data from users’ own ratings and organizations like the Human Rights Campaign – and provides educational resources to help them reach financial goals like adoption, surrogacy or gender confirmation surgery.
“When you think about a bank, it has a branch and probably sells four or five different products … a mortgage, a credit card, a personal loan,” Curtis says. “Their job is to sell them to as many people as possible, which means they need the most vanilla version of their products to give to as many people as possible. Everybody gets the same thing with small differences, and they’ve been designed for a predominantly heterosexual audience.
“By the time we get to 39, here’s what happens,” he continues. “You’re asked the question, ‘Do you want a home, a family or a gender transition? Pick one.’ Now, maybe you’re wealthy and you can afford $50,000 for a house deposit, $100,000 for a surrogacy and $100,000 for a gender transition, but chances are that’s very unlikely.”
Curtis says other banks can’t understand that. Instead, they offer “the same content with a rainbow on it or a teller who may only be beginning to understand why pronouns are important.”
He argues that “banks have failed because their model is to provide services that reach as many people as possible,” noting that “the best thing that they’re able do is put rainbows on things and maybe sponsor some parties.”
“Authenticity starts at the beginning of the journey, not the end,” Curtis adds.
More than 100,000 people have already signed up for Daylight’s waiting list to enroll in services, with hundreds of active bankers currently utilizing them. They currently offer no hidden fees, free in-network ATMs and more. Other perks include a Rewards Realness program which offers cash back for spending at LGBTQ businesses.
“We had a wonderful experience in Tampa Bay because we brought in merchants, bars and LGBTQ community leaders,” Curtis says. “It was transformative in how we thought about approaching LGBTQ people in the market. People think banking isn’t about people, but banking is all about people.”
Daylight is expected to move users off of its waiting list through the new year, with a wider launch planned for early 2022. You can sign up for its waiting list or learn more at JoinDaylight.com.
