Financial inclusion, especially providing services to those people and small businesses that traditionally avoided full-service banking, has long been a calling card for financial technology firms.

“We help drive innovation, inclusion, and access across the industry,” boasted Chime, which since its launch in 2013 has emerged as one of the largest so-called neo-banks.

Interest rates near zero and an untapped market of millions of adults helped the industry flourish, from financial services firms to cryptocurrency startups.

But inflation and rate hikes have slowed new funding to a trickle. As investors’ push for profits grows, so too does concern that fintechs will abandon their pledges to cater to the underserved.

Consider the online bank Varo Bank, which raised $510 million and boasted a $2.5 billion valuation last September. Then, like many fintechs, it hit a wall in 2022.

With losses mounting, it laid off 75 staffers, cut back on advertising and shifted strategy, moving away from growing its total client base and shedding what CEO Colin Walsh called “expensive customer acquisition” in an interview this month with Axios.

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