Fintech MoneyLion, which began as a lending and personal-finance platform and more recently added banking and investing, is pursuing a financial “super app” strategy to grow its customer base. The company is planning to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company later this year.

Why should we care?
MoneyLion is an 8-year-old neobank that is adding an array of features to keep its customers transacting on its platform and grow its user base. The company will roll out ‘buy now, pay later’ as well as crypto later this year for its 1.8 million users. It’s also adding a marketplace that could include non-financial products. “Our overall vision is to be a daily destination," founder and CEO Dee Choubey said in an interview. "We're really transcending financial transactions to life transactions [and that] allows us over time to go from being a platform of single products ultimately to being an aggregator." The company, however, has come under scrutiny from regulators, including civil investigative demands from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in three successive years related to its membership model and compliance with the Military Lending Act. It also faces questions and investigations from some state regulatory bodies. At issue is the company’s credit-building membership program, in which users pay a monthly fee on top of loan APRs. In addition, the company’s Instacash cash advance product includes fees for instant fund transfers, and the option to voluntarily “tip” the app – a compensation method that prompted investigations into another fintech engaging in a similar practice. MoneyLion, however, said customers can win back up to the entire monthly membership fee based on frequent engagement with the app, and that its popular cash-advance product is designed to help customers in times of need.