Our Take
Current's path to profitability depends on cracking a problem most neobanks haven't: making money from interchange alone, without a much larger user base than its 6 million customers.
Why it matters
Neobanks are under pressure to prove the model works before capital dries up. Current's bet on AI-powered services and product diversification is the real test of whether an interchange-based fintech can survive without Chime's scale.
Do this week
Finance teams evaluating neobank partnerships: audit your ARPU and churn rates against Current's inactivity fees (added 2023) to model whether this playbook applies to your customer segments.
Current Closes $80M Series E, First Funding Since 2021
Current, a digital banking fintech, announced an $80 million Series E round led by Springcoast Partners. The funding values the company at $1.5 billion, a 38% decline from its 2021 peak of $2.2 billion (per Pitchbook). This is the neobank's first formal fundraise in four years and comes as it reports three consecutive years of growth.
The company operates a mobile banking app competing directly with Chime, Varo, and Greenlight. Current has 6 million customers as of November 2025 and maintains direct relationships with Choice Financial and Cross River Bank for banking infrastructure, plus Visa for payment processing. It also operates its own banking core, similar to Chime's in-house setup.
CEO Stuart Sopp stated the company expects to reach profitability in 2026 and is preparing for a future public offering. The new capital will fund product innovation, AI-powered financial services, and expansion of banking, payments, liquidity, and credit offerings.
Interchange Alone Cannot Fund Profitability at Current's Scale
Dylan Lerner, a senior digital banking analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research, offered direct insight into Current's math: neobanks with spend-based interchange models "aren't typically profitable on their own" but can be when paired with ancillary revenue and operational discipline.
Current's critical metric is average revenue per user (ARPU). The company addressed a known problem in 2023 by adding inactivity and escheatment fees to recoup costs from dormant accounts, which incur compliance expenses without generating interchange revenue. This suggests Current has identified inactive users as a drag on profitability.
For comparison, Chime has already reported profitability and operates from a much larger user base. Chime is also extending into lending, a move Current appears to be watching. Current's strategy mirrors this playbook: it is positioning interchange not as the primary business model but as the entry point, then layering in AI-powered financial services and expanded credit offerings to boost per-user value.
The 38% valuation markdown from 2021 reflects the collapse of venture enthusiasm for fintech post-crypto winter. Current's return to fundraising signals confidence from its backers, but profitability claims remain company-reported targets, not independent verification.
What Neobanks Must Do to Survive the Profitability Test
Current's public commitment to hit profitability in 2026 is a stake in the ground. The company's strategy combines three levers: lower break-even points through low overhead (no physical branches, lean staffing), AI-driven product innovation to increase ARPU, and diversification beyond interchange into lending and other banking products.
For practitioners evaluating neobank partnerships or building on neobank infrastructure, the lesson is clear. Neobanks with under 10 million active, high-ARPU users cannot rely on interchange fees alone. Watch which companies are aggressively adding fees (inactivity, credit products, premium tiers) and which are doubling down on volume. Current's 2023 inactivity fee launch signals it chose the former. Teams funding or integrating with neobanks should stress-test ARPU assumptions and model churn against fee structures. Interchange-dependent models may tighten terms or cap features for low-activity segments as profitability pressure intensifies.