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How Unit helped The Coterie launch bank accounts for high-net-worth individuals
The Coterie saw the opportunity to build a financial services platform for high-net-worth (HNW) individuals. To realize it, they needed to offer a full suite of banking services.
With Unit, The Coterie was able to scale to nearly $500M in assets under management (AUM) in just a few months.
The Coterie is a financial platform for high-net-worth individuals, many of whose needs have not previously been met by the market.
For cofounders Ethan Agarwal, Jeson Patel, and Christopher Boies, it’s a mission born of experience. Earlier in their careers, each had trouble accessing loans and other forms of capital despite the fact that they had amassed considerable assets.
The Coterie caters to this demographic by offering access to investing, lending, estate planning, and banking. They partner with Unit and Blue Ridge Bank to make banking services available to their customers.
With Unit, The Coterie scaled to nearly $500M in assets under management (AUM) in just a few months
“Existing banking infrastructure doesn’t understand how to evaluate or serve this group,” says CLO Christopher Boies. “Credit score is about what you’ve done in the past. We’re much more interested in your total financial picture today and what you’re going to do in the future.”
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The Coterie partners with Unit to offer consumer checking accounts with ACH origination capabilities.
That means Unit handles the back-end banking technology while streamlining the bank relationship and compliance obligations. That way, The Coterie can focus on other priorities.
“We spoke with several potential providers. Unit’s feature set stood out because it gave us a path to provide a full banking experience, one that consumers are used to, right inside our product.” - Jeson Patel, CTO
Today, The Coterie’s members use their checking accounts to receive loan disbursements and fund investment opportunities. The Coterie enables them to invest in vehicles that would be difficult or impossible for them to access as individuals.
What The Coterie built with Unit
In seeking a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) partner, one of The Coterie’s key criteria was the ability to launch quickly with a strong offering.
They had set a stretch goal of going live with checking accounts in time for their alpha release. Although initially they wondered whether it would be possible, they were able to accomplish the goal with Unit.
“We wanted to move fast, and Unit was ready to go. Thanks to great docs, a reliable API, and energetic support, we were able to go live in record time.” - Jeson Patel, CTO
“I spent time researching API docs, both Unit’s and other providers’,” continues Patel. “Based on the docs, it was easy to see how Unit worked; it gave me confidence in what we were planning to build. With the other providers, it wasn’t as easy to see.”
The Coterie launched to the general public in October 2022; since then, they’ve grown to $500M assets under management (AUM).
It’s the beginning of a long journey with America’s high earners, but Agarwal, Patel, and Boies have reason to be optimistic. There are more than 20 million people in the United States with a net worth greater than $1M. These individuals would benefit from a financial platform that understands their worth and meets their needs.
With Unit, The Coterie is confident in serving them.
“In Unit, we have a partner who understands our goals and works with us to achieve them,” says CLO Christopher Boies. “And that has been critical to our success.”
The Coterie is a financial technology company and not a bank. Banking services provided by Blue Ridge Bank N.A.; Member FDIC.
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