Two months out from launch, TranzactCard has lost access to its US banking processors.

In BehindMLM’s published June 2023 TranzactCard review, we noted VISA cards acquired through Evolve Bank and Trust N.A. and CBW Bank. Solid is also part of the mix.

TranzactCard acknowledged its US banking issues in an email sent out on August 31st;

Our banking platform provider is currently experiencing issues. Consequently, customers are unable to fund their TranzactCard accounts. In the meantime, you can still make payments with your card and withdraw funds from your account.

On September 1st TranzactCard issued a follow up email, in which it abruptly announced it was “transitioning away” from its “present banking platform”.

Now is the time to transition away from our present banking platform and set up our own program — complete with our own unique BIN (bank identification number) with one or more direct community banks.

We anticipated making this transition sometime in 2024 — reaching this point earlier is no small feat!

TranzactCard blamed its banking problems on its US banking processors issuing it a “shared bank identifier with other fintech clients”.

This shared client structure has caused strain on our TranzactCard ecosystem as we onboarded more clients than anticipated.

Although occasional issues are to be expected, it has become clear that we have drastically outgrown our current banking platform.

TranzactCard went on to assure affiliates that, although they couldn’t add any new money, their “Visa cards will remain functional for outgoing payments and withdrawals.”

In another email sent out a few hours later, TranzactCard’s initial “VISA cards are fine” status changed again.

 All active accounts and bank cards will be closed at the end of September. They will not be transferred to the new bank/s.

Funds can no longer be deposited into existing bank accounts.

Available funds must be spent or withdrawn from all Evolve/Solid bank accounts by September 30.

Founded in 1925, Evolve Bank and Trust bills itself as

a national best-in-class financial services institution that combines the expertise of a bank and the power of technology to offer our clients unique profitable solutions.

CBW Bank was founded in 1892 and operates out of Kansas.

Solid, founded in 2019, claims it has $81 million in funding and has processed 100 million API calls and $10 billion in transactions for over a hundred fintech companies.

It seems a little strange that these banking service providers would have issues processing a few $495 DBO payments.

MLM companies getting booted from banking services is typically a compliance issue. In a separate September 1st “corporate update” however, TranzactCard doubled down on blaming Solid.

Even though we are in pre-launch, the number and types of issues being experienced by you on this platform kept piling up and in the end there were too many to continue justifying its continuance.

Another Solid-induced error of yesterday, causing accounts to not be able receive new funds was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

A decision that we had planned to implement more than a year from now had to be brought forward immediately.

The decision was that simple. Managing the short term chaos is harder, but better now than later.

Banking is hard enough, it doesn’t need to be compounded by “own goals.”

What are we telling people about this transition, can they know that we are no longer work with Solid?

Tell them we’ve outgrown Solid’s platform and are too advanced in sheer numbers and technical expertise to share this platform with other fintech startups.

Unless I misread the update, TranzactCard doesn’t disclose what the cited “decision” was that led to Solid terminating their accounts. Nor why the decision all of a sudden had to be brought forward.

Whether TranzactCard’s conduct triggered any Suspicious Activity Reports is also unclear.

Looking forward, TranzactCard claims it will have new banking channels set up in “several weeks”.

How long will the entire transition process take?

The transition is expected to last several weeks, and regular updates will be provided.

Whether these will be US bank or offshore accounts remains to be seen.

Outside of banking problems, as of September 1st TranzactCard maintains it “remain(s) within our projected timeline for the November launch.”

Back in July Richard Smith told affiliates TranzactCard’s November 12th launch date was “final” and “will not change”.

 

Update 14th December 2023 – As per a December 13th “corporate update call”, TranzactCard has named Bangor Savings Bank as its new US banking partner.

Bangor Savings Bank is based out of Maine, holds about $7.4 billion in assets and has ~950 employees.

Through Bangor Savings Bank, TranzactCard claims it has access to MasterCard’s payment network.

 

Update 16th December 2023 – Bangor Bank has denied having a partnership with TranzactCard.