FTC says neobank Dave misled customers

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we look at neobank Dave’s “misleading marketing” according to a new FTC complaint, the launch of Affirm in the UK amid a regulatory overhaul, and how Equal aims to combat India’s growing internet fraud problem.

It’s a big story

The FTC is coming after Dave for “misleading marketing“

The FTC is taking action against online money app and neobank Dave, saying it used “misleading advertising to deceive consumers.”

At issue is how Dave marketed $500 cash to buyers that he rarely offered, and the “Fee” he charged if customers wanted their money immediately. The FTC said Dave’s marketing implied that withdrawals would be “immediate” without disclosing the fees involved until the consumer gave Dave access to their bank account.

The complaint states that if a user chooses not to pay the fee, which ranges anywhere from $3 to $25, they will have to wait two to three business days for the transfer to go through. The FTC also alleged that Dave sometimes charged unexpected fees, describing them as “tips.”

Analysis of the week

Affirm has launched in the UK, its first market outside of North America.

The long-awaited arrival of buy now, pay later (BNPL) is coming to an interesting point. UK lawmakers are putting together new rules to bring BNPL firms in line with other mainstream consumer credit services, but such rules are not expected to come into effect until at least 2026. consumers and regulators alike.

Affirm isn’t starting in the UK with any big-name partnerships it has at home, but the fact that it counts the likes of Amazon, Shopify, and Apple as US customers means it won’t be big. expanding to expand its commercial partnerships across the pond.

Dollars and cents

Brazilian fintech Tako is coming out of hiding with a $13.2 million seed round co-led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Tako’s employee lifecycle platform automates tasks like onboarding and payroll to save companies time and bring employee information into one place.

MoradaUno, a proptech company that aims to make it easier to rent apartments in Mexico, recently raised a $5.6 million Series A round co-led by Flourish Ventures and Cometa. The funds will be used to help with expansion, founder and CEO Santiago Morales told TechCrunch.

Equal raised a $10 million Series A at a post-money valuation of $80 million to scale up its operations. The Hyderabad-based startup aims to tackle India’s growing internet fraud problem with its identity verification and financial data sharing products.