Banking and investing app Acorns is waiving subscription fees for veterans in an effort to reach more underserved customers.

Why should we care?
Acorns is aiming to reach veterans who often struggle financially upon their return to the U.S.A. A 2019 survey from the Military Family Advisory Network found that among military retiree families, 22.2% had less than $500 in emergency savings or no emergency fund at all. In addition to waived subscription fees, Acorns is offering a starter investment boost of $50 to veterans. Of course, Acorns isn’t the only financial firm catering to veterans, but its outreach to them represents a “mainstreaming” of non-bank, fintech platforms as primary vehicles to manage consumers’ financial lives. “Now, we see firms like Acorns tapping into this earned trust by reaching out to affinity groups such as veterans to increase individual savings rates,” Sarah Biller, executive director at Vantage Ventures said. “I think we are seeing the rise in trust in fintech as a confluence of these two ‘network’ effects: In other words, economic choices are made based on an individual’s confidence in the wisdom of their community, and their own personal systems experience.”