Totem Technologies, the US-based neobank founded in 2022 to democratise access to financial services for Native Americans, has “come to the end of its road”, says founder and CEO Amber Buker.
In the post, Buker says she is “incredibly proud of the work we’ve done in just two short years to improve financial wellness and banking access for Native Americans nationwide”, adding that Totem is a “thoughtful, culturally relevant banking product” which she says reached “over 500 customers representing more than 70 different tribal nations” over the course of its lifetime.
Totem’s banking app provided Native Americans with current accounts featuring no minimum balances or monthly fees, allowing users to manage transactions, pay bills and earn rewards through spending.
It also provided educational resources and programmes through the app as a means to help increase financial literacy among the Native American community.
“We built an ethical business model that showed it is possible to serve ‘risky’ or ‘niche’ populations when you build holistically and tap into the broader needs of their communities through value-add services like payments,” Buker’s post continues.
“But businesses looking to serve Indian Country can only do so at the speed of trust. And that comes much, much more slowly than the pace at which a venture-backed company is expected to move.”
The Tulsa-based start-up launched its app in July 2023 following a $2.2 million pre-seed funding round led by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners in December 2022.
Other backers include Alloy Alchemist Fund, Debut Capital, Ruthless for Good, Candide Group and Amazon Web Services, which delivered an additional $125,000 grant for Totem as part of its Impact Accelerator for Women Founders.
The company has been contacted by FinTech Futures for comment.
