Movenbank has added a banking veteran to its executive team.
The mobile financial services startup said Monday that Alex Sion, a former senior vice president of wealth management executive at Citigroup (NYSE: C) who most recently headed the financial services arm of marketing firm SapientNitro, has joined the company as president.
The appointment comes as Movenbank readies a mobile banking service that aims to tap customer data and social media to help customers achieve their financial goals.
Movenbank's service, slated to be rolled out early next year, will function as a digital debit card that draws on customer funds that would be held in Movenbank's partner banks. Movenbank will track transactions and spending habits to help users realize their savings goals.
"The real value for the customer is not necessarily the account or the payment but the insight they get from us that helps them become financially smarter," Sion told American Banker Monday.
Sion, 40, says Movenbank views consumers who use smartphones regularly and participate actively in social media as likely users of its service.
"The behavioral segment we're looking for are those people who are beginning to live their lives on the mobile phone, who are ready, willing and able to adopt it is a payments vehicle, who are using it on social networks with chat with friends and talk about their buying, and who are using it as a tool to help them understand their money at a broad level," Sion said.
According to Sion, Movenbank anticipates revenue from both transactions and from customers who pay directly for the company's service. "We want a model that is about whether you value what you're getting from us and whether you're using us," he said.
In August, Movenbank
"We're heads down and hell bent on changing the world of banking," Sion added.
