Personal Finance
Zurp Launches Card and Banking Account Aimed at Gen Z
A new FinTech called Zurp is ready to make its debut. Today, the startup launched its debit card/secured credit card product in tandem with a savings account. These offerings are powered by First Pryority Bank and are designed to appeal to Gen Z given the account focus on rewards and experiences.
With the Zurp Card, customers can earn 8 points per dollar spent on dining, groceries, travel & entertainment, and rideshare purchases. Additionally, cardholders can earn 1x points when making rent or mortgage payments with the card. All other purchases will earn 3x points. These points can then be redeemed for select experiences, statement credits for purchases from specific brands, select subscriptions, and more.
Meanwhile, the Zurp Cash account also includes a number of benefits. For one, at this time, the account will earn 5% APY. Customers can also set their own Zurp credit card limit by making deposits to their Zurp Cash account.
As a bonus for customers, Zurp is also offering special rewards to new customers. Currently, users can earn 10,000 bonus points when they open an account plus another 10,000 points after making their first Zurp Cash deposit of $100 or more. Those who spend $1,000 on their Zurp Card within their first three months can then receive another 10,000-point bonus.
Today’s launch follows a $5 million pre-seed funding round Zurp closed in January. At the time, the product was billed as a “credit card for experiences” that also enabled customers to support their favorite creators. It’s unclear whether that aspect of the card will launch later, whether it will be a separate product, or whether Zurp (which was originally envisioned as a DeFi project) is once again pivoting.
“Banking doesn’t have to be boring,” said Troy Osinoff, co-founder and co-CEO of Zurp. “We’re on a mission to provide experience-driven financial services, enabling people to live the life they’ve always desired. With the Zurp Card, powered by Mastercard, we’re encouraging users to adopt positive financial habits but in a way that is engaging, fun, and rewarding.”
On the surface, there seems to be many appealing aspects of Zurp — namely the 8x points on dining, groceries, travel, entertainment, and rideshare purchases as well as 1x on rent. However, there are also a number of questions surrounding the service. For one, if points are only redeemable for certain experiences or in other limited ways, these high multipliers may not equate to other offerings in the way that consumers expect. On that note, as mentioned, Zurp’s current pitch also seems to have shifted from what was teased a mere few months ago. For those reasons, while Zurp could ultimately prove to be a fun and rewarding banking tool, consumers may want to wait for more information before coming aboard.
