WEBVTT - I Built Your Credit Card ft. Vrinda Gupta 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:10.879 Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black. We're extra brown today. 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:15.240 Ambition ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition. 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.680 Well we have some extra brown in the stew today. Yes, 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.239 well one, First of all, Happy New Year. I don't 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.919 know when you're hearing this, but y'all twenty twenty three. Okay. 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:28.880 If twenty twenty three had a word, it would be 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:33.320 what because I think it was so hard for so 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:35.040 many people. But that's all right. We forgot about her. 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:37.680 She's going, she's out of here. Twenty twenty four. As 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.400 my sister Tracy said, it's gonna be a banner year. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.120 I can feel it. It's already starting off great for 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.800 the most part. So we wanted to start the year 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.120 off awesome by having awesome people in the stew And 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.239 today we have a woman who is amazing who I 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:56.720 was introduced to via one of my mentees. Hey, Berna, 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.760 Bernad's awesome, and berna' said you have to be a woman. Vernda, 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:02.200 she's awesome. So I'm gonna tell you a little bit 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.520 about Verrenda that we're gonna welcome her into the stew 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:05.760 and just chat. 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:06.320 So. 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.600 Vernda Gupta is the CEO and co founder of Sequin 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:15.120 which is a women's banking and financial education membership club 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:19.160 designed by women for women. Okay, she is a globally 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:24.760 recognized credit expert by Forbes, ABC seven News and Fintech 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:29.160 magazine who helped launch the popular Chase Sapphire Reserve credit 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:31.720 card at Visa. Yes, that was Brenda. Y'all know I 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:34.399 got the Reserve card. The joke is of Verenda that 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:36.920 I never call it the right name. I'm always like 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.399 the go get it Chase card, the travel around the card, 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:41.880 travel around the world card. So she was the one 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.640 who helped to launch that, and she received her MBA 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.720 from Berkeley haz Am I saying that right. Brenda lives 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.760 in San Francisco, California and is a proud we love 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.720 this because you know I'm first generation, first generation Indian immigrant. 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:57.840 Welcome to the studio, Verrenda. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.880 I'm so excited. Thank you so much for having me 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.000 and I love hearing my bio out of your mouth. 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.360 You are like my personal hype woman. This is great, 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:08.440 well one. 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:10.720 I heard to have to say that, like honestly, like 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.200 I don't know if you've ever heard this, but Nigerians 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:18.240 in which I am in first generation and Indians have 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:24.359 so much in common because we too can only be doctors, attorneys, pharmacists, engineers. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:30.480 There's like a list of very small, you know, education 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:35.280 past that we are allowed to go down, which is hilarious. 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.920 And whenever I talk to my Indian friends kind of 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.800 like of my upbringing, it sounds so similar. You know, 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.320 parents were a little extra too strict. You know, education 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:49.960 was most important, and yeah that there was just this 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:54.680 expectation of excellence always, you know, and so like, so 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:55.359 I love that. 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:56.600 Gluck company here. 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:00.560 Yeah, so one, I know that. So tell us a 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.399 little bit about your background, how did you get here? 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.679 And then I'd love to learn more about what sequences. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.040 I'm so excited to talk about my story with you, Tiffany, 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.079 because I think I have a kindred spirit here. So, yeah, 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:16.920 my story begins as a first generation immigrant. My family 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.680 and I immigrated from India when I was very young, 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.800 and I saw them navigating the US financial system, and 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.639 I saw, disproportionately my mom having a lot of fear 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:29.680 in that there might be gatcha so that she might 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.880 make a mistake. And my mother is this, like many 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:37.200 Brown mothers, a very feisty immigrant woman. She is not 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.640 afraid of anything except for this one realm, which was 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.119 the financial world. And so ultimately, when they were big 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.480 financial decisions to be made, my dad would end up 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.600 making them because my mom didn't feel confident. And I 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:54.800 started associating money with power at a very young age, 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.680 and since then, both my parents really encouraged me to 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:04.000 become financial independent and really understand the financial system, because again, 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:09.080 money is power. And so when I graduated, I actually 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.360 wanted to get into financial services so I could empower 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:16.440 myself and empower my mom and the women and just 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:20.520 persons around me with this very important knowledge. And my 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:24.359 first job out of college was at Visa, and I 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:26.960 felt really fortunate to have that position because I was 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.200 learning so much. I was a product manager. I was 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:33.560 building popular credit cards, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.880 I know we talked about for a bit, and it 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:40.520 was so fun, you know, working on this project, having 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.719 so much ownership and for multiple years working on this 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.560 huge product launch which was a big success. And I 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.880 applied for the card that I had spent years building 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:52.560 and I got rejected. 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:58.520 Wow, yeah, so you applied for you built the club 0:04:58.560 --> 0:04:59.240 and couldn't get. 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.760 In exactly exactly and you know, it was this moment 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:06.200 where everything in my life had kind of come rushing 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.800 to me, and it said, okay, well, you are literally 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.280 in the center of this system, and you yourself are 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:17.280 unable to get access to really important financial tools. And 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:19.760 I just looked around and I said, you know, maybe 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.960 I could be the one to break this generational kind 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.800 of issue, especially as women are looking at money and 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.320 looking at finances and not necessarily feeling as empowered and 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.960 feeling as confident. And then I'm sitting there with this 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.960 rejection screen in front of me and just had this 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:40.679 moment of realization that, you know, if I wasn't able 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.240 to do something about this, then my daughter in the 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.520 future was going to be sitting in this exact same chair, 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.120 having this exact same experience. And it kind of led 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:54.080 me on this rabbit hole where I started understanding who 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.760 the financial system was built for and who it wasn't 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:02.040 And I actually learned that women minorities could be rejected 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.720 from bank accounts, credit cards, business loans up until the 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:10.320 nineteen seventies. And that's not ancient history, right, And even 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:13.800 though it's illegal today, we all know that putting you know, 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.159 laws in place does not solve the problem, and I 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.000 kind of, you know, came to this realization that women 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:24.640 and minorities have the largest spending power of any demographic. Ever, however, 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:28.240 the financial system and the resources and the guidance and 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.599 the tools themselves are really not designed around women or 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.400 around minorities, and that's leading to less than optimal outcomes 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.120 for us. And you know, that's kind of where my 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:39.919 fascination with all of this started. 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.719 And so when did you leave? Did you? Did you 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.240 leave Chase soon after that? And like, is this what 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.360 would would led you the starting sequence and what is sequin? 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.159 Yeah? Absolutely, so I left, Lisa, I was working on 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.200 the TA Yeah. 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:01.880 Because they're activity. They know that I'm like, you know, 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:05.280 the especially Mandy when it comes to the Chase staffire Reserve, 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:08.159 I'm like the Chase the run and get on vacation 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:09.960 that I get points to travel card. 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:10.280 They know. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.320 So the fact that I called it, yes, that is 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:17.640 so on brand. Yes, why do you let yes? 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:18.160 Exactly? 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.400 Yeah, So you was that like soon after that? You 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.320 stayed for a little longer, Like what did that look like? 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:25.880 I did? Yeah? So I stayed for a little longer 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.120 because I had this realization that in order for me 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:33.160 to fundamentally disrupt the financial system. I really wanted to 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:37.360 understand how it worked, who it was built for, how 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:41.800 it's designed, what the financial incentives are, how these products 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:45.080 are built. And so after I got rejected, I actually 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.680 had this renewed excitement and zeal for the payments industry 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.680 because I felt if I could learn from the smartest 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.480 people in the industry, I could actually take those learnings 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.960 and then build something better. So I stuck around Visa 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.080 for a few years after that, and I actually went 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.760 to get my MBA at Berkeley HOSS. And when I 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:09.560 was actually in my MBA program, I started surveying my 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.040 classmates and I was realizing that even MBAs and these 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:17.480 very very ambitious professional women were feeling less confident in 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.680 our finances as compared to the men. And you know, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.520 I just realized that this was a huge opportunity to 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:26.480 do something about it. So I had an MBA summer 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.320 internship at one of the best design firms in the 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:34.079 world called Ideo. And when I was there, I was 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.000 kind of looking around and seeing what was going on 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.520 in the world, and times up was happening, me too, 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.720 was happening, and I just felt very strongly that women 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:48.280 deserved better financial services that were actually designed around our needs. 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.400 You know, you realized that there was this problem when 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.679 it comes to women having access, and also not just 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:58.239 women having access. I think that there was a confidence 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:00.880 issue that you would look and to solve for. Is 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.080 that accurate to say exactly? Yeah? 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.360 I mean the issue was so multifascinating, and I think 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:10.520 the deeper I dug, the more I saw. So the 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:12.840 first piece at the highest level was I was looking 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.679 at Visa data and I saw that seventy percent of 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.360 women and every time I say women also with minorities, 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.880 these stats are worse. So if you're interceptional, it's like 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.680 if you're women and a minority, if these numbers are 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.280 just worse and worse. But seventy percent of women were 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:31.960 making avoidable mistakes when it came to money, when it 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.760 came to credit, when it came to wealth, and those 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.760 mistakes were solvable. It's just because the financial system was 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.120 not designed with us in mind. We were also not 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.640 being taught the same way, and the issues start really 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.200 early where little boys are twice as likely to receive 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.719 a lesson on credit and finances. By the time we 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:57.840 reached high school, and then banks are spending thirty three 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.280 times advertising to men they are to women, and thus 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:05.200 women aren't having these conversations, and so that does lead 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:08.440 to greater you know, not really understanding how some of 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.640 these products and services are working. And then on top 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:13.640 of that, when you actually look at the products and 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:18.160 services themselves, you can see that credit scoring algorithms, for example, 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.480 are taking into account, okay, the fact that there is 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.640 a gender age gap, right, there is a pink tax, 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.600 and that women's lives are costing more. And so you know, 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.480 these algorithms are saying, are not actually seeing that, and 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.400 they're just saying, okay, well, we are going to penalize 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:38.800 you with some of those factors that you know, society 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.080 has put onto us at no fault of our own. 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:43.960 And so I started taking all these things, started looking 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.679 at Okay, of course confidence, a lack of confidence is 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.840 the result. But also these products were never designed with 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.560 us in mind. We were never taught this industry is 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.400 not designed to center women that look like you and me, 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:58.360 So it makes sense that you know, we might not 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.880 be engaging with them, or we might not feel confident 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:02.720 using them. 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.520 Well, where did you get the confidence to say you 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:09.760 know what, I have seen the problem, and you know, 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.040 I have seen the stats, and I want to be 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:14.880 part of the solution. Like because a lot of people 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.640 things happen all the time. I might say, oh, you know, 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.440 I you know, I don't like on my street right 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.640 now where I live, it's kind of a busy street, 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:24.520 and I think to myself, oh, there should be a 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.520 speed bump here, you know. But I just complained about it. 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.160 But you know, sometimes there's a thing that makes you say, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.760 I'm actually not just going to complain about it. I'm 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.920 going to do something like where did that energy come from? 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:39.719 Is that like your mother's just seeping through? Like, no, 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:42.280 the feistiness is still here. 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:49.400 My mother is definitely my inspiration, and you know, I think, 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.400 you know, to know me is to know my mother. 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.800 But I think ultimately, when I looked around, I didn't 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:01.720 really see anyone tackling this problem from the way that 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:06.760 I really felt fundamentally the financial system needed a redesign, 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.640 and you know, the education and the confidence and that component. 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.200 I started seeing so many women start talking about that, 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.200 which I thought was just so incredible, and women that 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.319 looked like you and women that looked like me having 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.640 these conversations and as I mentioned times up was happening, 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:25.640 me too was happening, and I just felt like the 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:29.040 timing for something like this was right. But the other 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.320 part that I felt a lot of gratitude for and 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:37.720 really understood my privilege in that I understood how to 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.440 build financial products. And you know, as I looked around, 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:43.960 even when I was working at Visa and especially now 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.240 as a fintech founder, there wasn't anyone who looked like me. 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.240 And you know, just having that experience where I was 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:56.000 rejected from the product that I helped create, I don't 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.280 know anyone else who's had that experience still in you know, 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.040 my many almost a decade in fintech now, I haven't 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:06.920 seen that. And I think with that perspective that made 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.160 me really empathetic to the women who I'm building for. 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.520 Where I had these conversations and I can say, okay, 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.440 I also experience that problem. You're right right. You know, 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.800 I got rejected because I wasn't building my credit history 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.920 effectively and that's because I didn't know. No one taught me. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.760 And so as I'm talking to other women and building 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.880 the products, it's also thinking about how do we not 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.800 only give you the education that you need and the 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:39.960 why behind everything, but also how do we design products 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:43.360 and services that you can actually take those learnings and 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.360 then practice with them and know that these products aren't 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.240 going to have a bunch of gotchas around them. So 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.360 to answer your question to me, I think I just 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:57.320 didn't see anyone else with my unique perspective, and I 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.920 felt this is something that should exist the world because 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.520 when you give women and minorities more money, that's how 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.720 the world moves forward. And it became a matter of 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:12.000 gender equity and equity for minorities as well, where again, 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.839 going back to money is power. Understanding how to leverage money, 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:19.160 Understanding money, credit and wealth and actually having the tools 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.320 to make those work for you is just so powerful. 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:24.960 And it felt like probably the most important thing that 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:27.760 I could do with my life. And so that's why 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.680 I decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship and build 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:31.480 what is now Sequin. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.920 So let's talk about Sequin one. How did you come 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.400 up with the name and what exactly is sequin? 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:42.680 Yes, I actually love this question with the name, so 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:47.200 it's actually an interesting kind of fun fact. So Sequence 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:51.440 or Siica is the Arabic term for a coin, and 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:57.080 around the Roman Empire timing there were these Venetian gold 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.360 currencies as well, called sequence or sica, and as you know, 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:04.720 the fall of the Roman Empire, the coins started losing 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.800 value and so people would wear them as talismans and 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.120 you know, decor and over time it became this kind 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.080 of shiny not what we know a sequence, Kay, and 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.640 I really loved that mix of you know, rooted and 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:21.400 deep currency and gold coins, but also something that represents 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.520 femininity and something that feels very kind of bright and 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.360 loud and out there. It just felt like this perfect 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:30.960 mix of you know, what we were trying to build 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:32.600 and you know, the change that we're trying to make 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:33.040 in the world. 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:34.600 Now that we know how you got the name Sequin, 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:36.760 what exactly because I know it's a women's banking and 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:40.600 financial education membership club, but what exactly does that mean? 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:42.920 If I were to go and we have a link 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.440 in the description of our you know, if you're listening 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:46.800 and like, I want to sign up for a Sequin 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.400 after hearing, So if I were to go to to 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.720 go to sequencar dot com, right, that's the site, right. 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.120 Yes, exact seccard dot com right. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:57.840 And so then what can I expect? Like, what will 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:00.000 I get there? You know that I can't find someplace 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:01.680 self exactly. 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.800 So the best part about Sequin is that we combine 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:12.040 community and financial guidance with actual banking and financial tools 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.640 for you to take the action. So you have guidance, 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.920 you have accountability, and you have banking tools. And so 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.960 we go through our three step money, credit and wealth 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:27.440 program and at each step we actually say these are 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.080 the things that you need to do, and actually in 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.000 this order, because we get so many questions around should 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.800 I be paying off debt first, should I be investing first? 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.640 Should I have an emergency fund? And actually there is 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.840 an order that works for most people, and so we 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.080 say this is the order you can diy. We have 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.960 a ton of amazing resources around money, credit, and wealth. 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.720 We have workshops if you need accountability, and we do 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.600 a lot of community work together as well. And then 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.160 the best part is you get a Sequin high interest 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:07.560 checking account and a Sequin depit card that has your 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.359 own money mantra on its visa. 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:15.960 Oh girl, you know those cards. You're like, where did 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.840 you press the set staples? But now you're not if 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.240 you're listening and you can't see it. It has the 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.480 visa on it. I love that it has your money mants. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:24.120 That's amazing. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.840 Yes, it's great and it's really neat. So you know, 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.760 one of our main products that will give you is 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:33.760 sequent high interest checking, which is something that doesn't really 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:39.000 exist on the market. And so with high interest checking, 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.040 it means that your checking account is actually growing every 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.879 single dollar. And what we hear so much of women 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.600 is you know, either I'm not investing, which you know 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.320 we're hoping to change, or I'm not growing my money 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.359 and we want every single dollar of yours to grow 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.720 in your checking account. So your paycheck goes into sequence, 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:02.000 it grows at high interest. The raids subject to change, 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:05.000 but right now it's three point five six percent and 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:11.040 checking why in checking, which is over fifty times what 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:12.720 you're gonna get with ye. 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.119 I'm not the lead everyone, I'm not the one who 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.600 is there like a minimum. It lookuld me for myself, 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:21.439 I mean for the audience, it's. 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.520 I know there are no gotchas. So that was one 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.360 of the things that I felt very strongly about with 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:30.959 my experience with my mom was there's a lot of 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:33.879 gotchas in the financial world. Right, you get a free 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.680 checking account for those of those of you can't see me, 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.720 I'm putting clothes right, a free checking account. But there's 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.600 so many gotchas. Right, there's overdraft fees, late peas. I 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.000 always say, if you're not paying for a product, you 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.560 are the product. Yes, And you know that's something that 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.840 we wanted to kiss goodbye to with Sequin, where when 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.639 you come in, everything is given to you and we 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.640 have a monthly or an annual membership and once you're 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:04.320 in there's nothing. And at a certain point with you know, 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.800 if you connect your direct deposit to Sequin, you will 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:11.120 likely earn more in interest than the membership fee. So 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.560 you're learning, right, you're getting accountability. You're getting these novel 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.520 banking tools that don't really exist on the market. High 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.639 interest checking is gate kept, like American Express has it, 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:24.840 but you have to have an AMEX card with an 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.640 annual fee and then you get access to it. This way, 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.959 there's no gatekeeping. You come in and we also have 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.280 some other really amazing tools like credit tools where you 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.800 can build credit, you can pay off debt all within Sequin, 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:41.600 all in one place. So the idea is you can 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:45.040 manage your entire financial life within sequin We'll tell you 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.800 the exact order of things to do, will give you 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:52.600 resources to actually practice take action. We'll give you accountability 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.160 with the community, and we will give you novel banking 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:58.679 tools that do not exist anywhere else really on the 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.560 market and are definitely not all in one place together. 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.800 So I love what we're building. And the best part 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:10.119 is we want to design a financial system with women 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.120 and minorities in mind for the first time in history, 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.560 right if women could be and minorities could be rejected 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.280 from again bank accounts, business loans, credit cards. Until the seventies, 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.560 every single bank out there was not designed with our 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:27.679 needs in mind, right, And so we always do feedback sessions. 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.720 Every single product that we've built, and every single feature 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.679 is actually built by a request from a member of 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:37.320 our community. And so we really do listen. And that's 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:40.560 why you know your reaction took me. Of high interest checking, 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.040 we heard so many women say like, Okay, I do 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.840 have an investment, but I need money every month, and 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:48.639 I have a lot of money in my checking account 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:51.840 and that should be growing, and every single dollar of 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.040 yours should be growing. And so we're like enter high 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:55.800 interest checking. 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:03.760 I love that. So what one currently? So it depends 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:06.160 if you're listening to this podcast five years and nat, 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.400 this might not be accurate. But for now, what is 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.040 the annual fee? And then what aside from this high 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:15.439 interest checking, what else does it get you access to? 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:21.040 Yeah? Absolutely, So when you join our membership, our monthly 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.680 right now is thirteen dollars a month. Our annual we're 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.760 actually doing a promotion. We'll do a promotion with We'll 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:30.000 give you a specific link with brand ambitions so you 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.800 can get forty percent off, So we'll share that as well. 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.920 In annual membership. But you get everything, so you get 0:21:38.240 --> 0:21:41.760 all of the financial guidance that I mentioned. So our 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:46.600 money Credit Wealth Program, which includes courses, it includes workshops, 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:49.760 and includes DIY resources to help you do things like 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.719 calculate your emergency fund. It does things like help you 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:56.439 figure out the best way to pay off debt, It 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:58.920 does things like help you understand the best way to 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:02.520 get started investment. And then you also get access to 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:05.639 our financial tools which are high interest checking right so 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.480 you're able to grow every single dollar at insanely high 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.640 interest and it's totally liquid to you. You get access 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.280 to all of our credit tools that help you build credit, 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.040 payoff debt. You literally just connect your credit cards to 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:20.560 Sequen and the tools smart enough to tell you are 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.480 you in debt payoff mode or credit building mode. And 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:25.720