H&R Block’s challenger bank,
The companies announced the partnerships this week. The choices of Galileo and MX provide a look under the hood of this new challenger bank, which is not limited to users of H&R Block but carries the reach and cachet of the brand.
H&R Block, which is based in Kansas City, Missouri, said that its Spruce debit card relies on Galileo’s card issuing application programming interface technology, while its savings account uses Galileo’s Roundup feature to sweep spare change into linked accounts. It also plans to use Salt Lake City-based Galileo’s Early Pay and overdraft products, which allow for early paycheck availability and overdraft protection.
Galileo is
“We want [customers] to be able to easily, quickly and reliably access, deposit, transfer and grow their money through Spruce,” Les Whiting, chief financial services officer at H&R Block, said in a news release on Tuesday.
On Thursday, H&R Block announced it will use data enhancement tools from financial data platform MX, in Lehi, Utah. To start, MX will augment transaction data for Spruce users, revealing merchant logos, categorization and locations in their spending history.
“MX’s data will enhance the customer experience of our Spruce mobile banking platform and provide the visibility and insights customers need into their finances,” Whiting said in a press release on Thursday. “Helping customers see where they are spending their money is one positive step in helping them be better with their money management.”
Spruce went live on Jan. 20 with a no-fee spending account, the ability to set up savings goals, cash-back rewards on the Spruce debit card, credit-score monitoring, early access to paychecks, and overdraft protection of up to $20. In an announcement about an upcoming investor day that will delve into the new product, H&R Block describes Spruce as a mobile banking app designed to “help people be good with money, with a focus on transparency, accessibility, and support.”
The deposits are held by the $7.6 billion-asset MetaBank, a subsidiary of Meta Financial Group in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
