Monthly Archives

September 2017

Love0
By CNote, Migration V2

CNote is now available to all investors!

CNote is proud to announce that, as of today, we are launching our impact investing product to all investors!

This means everyone can now enjoy a 2.5% return on their cash while driving prosperity in financially underserved communities across America.  

Previously, CNote was only available to accredited investors. Since our goal is to increase financial inclusion in this country, being limited to the wealthiest investors was never going to cut it for us.

After months of working with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and our dedicated legal team, we are delighted to announce that we have been qualified by the SEC to offer our product to everyone! You can review our offering circular to learn more about CNote, and the innovative financial product we have brought to market.

For current account holders, nothing will change. We’re grateful you’ve been with us from the beginning, and you’ll still receive the same great return with a positive social impact.

For the list of non-accredited investors waiting to earn 2.5%, we are excited to welcome you with open arms! You should expect an email shortly explaining how you can transfer funds and start earning money.  We know some of you have been waiting for quite a while, we are excited to welcome you to the CNote family. 

Our full press release is available below (pdf).

CNote Launches to Turn Americans’ Savings into Democratized Impact Investments

By parking your extra cash with this  fintech startup you can earn 40X more money while driving economic opportunity across the United States.

September 27, 2017 // Oakland, CA //  CNote, which offers up to 40x the return of a typical savings account, is announcing the public launch of its impact-focused financial platform. Previously in a testing a period with accredited investors, who collectively committed more than $9 million in savings, the Oakland-based startup is now open to everyday savers and non-accredited investors with no minimum deposit required. The startup’s flagship product has made history as the first high-yield impact product to be qualified by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for mass market.

Functioning as a high-yield savings product, CNote pools deposits from multiple savers and invests it in highly-impactful, but largely unknown, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). CDFIs are U.S. Treasury certified, and exist to help finance and support underserved populations like women and minority business owners.

CNote provides a 2.5% return to savers, a stark contrast to the 0.1% – or less – that most savers receive from traditional banks.

Founders Catherine Berman and Yuliya Tarasava built CNote out of a desire to help savers do good and do well.  The result of their collaboration is the first savings product to deliver outsized returns and positive social impact.

In December, the team ran a successful test with accredited investors, with over $9 million in committed savings under Reg D. In March, the company was selected as Best Startup Pitch Company at SXSW, as well as the Fintech Category Winner.

As the first platform of its kind, CNote is launching to the general public today with a cohort of  CDFI partners, including CDC Small Business and Pursuit Lending. They each provide a range of services and financing options for business owners who are often ignored or underserved by traditional financial institutions.

“There’s an estimated $300B of cash that just sits on the sidelines collecting dust in our savings accounts. There’s no reason we can’t unlock it for good by putting that money to work in our communities, while driving better returns for you,” Catherine Berman, CEO and Co-Founder of CNote said. “We could not be more thrilled to open our platform to everyday consumers and smart savers, and we hope people will see this as an opportunity to think outside the bank.”

This product is the first of CNote’s suite of competitive-yield, high-impact products that seek to redesign finance with a focus on financial inclusion and empowerment.

Interested CNote users can learn more about the platform at wpstaging.mycnote.com.

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About CNote

Founded in 2016 by Catherine Berman and Yuliya Tarasava, CNote is a financial platform for socially-conscious savers and investors. The company’s flagship product offers a 2.5% return on savings — and 100% social impact — by tapping into Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which exist to help finance underserved small business owners. In September 2017, CNote became the first competitive-yield financial product to be federally recognized and available to the mass market with no minimum and no fees.

In March 2017, CNote was selected as Fintech Category Winner at South by Southwest. The venture-backed fintech company currently operates with a team of 8 out of Oakland, California.

Love0
By CNote, Migration V2

CNote Non-Accredited Investor Launch Press Release

Note that effective January 1, 2019, the rate on all CNote accounts has increased to 2.75%. 

 

For immediate release (pdf).

CNote Launches to Turn Americans’ Savings into Democratized Impact Investments

By parking your extra cash with this  fintech startup you can earn 40X more money while driving economic opportunity across the United States.

September 27, 2017 // Oakland, CA //  CNote, which offers up to 40x the return of a typical savings account, is announcing the public launch of its impact-focused financial platform. Previously in a testing a period with accredited investors, who collectively committed more than $9 million in savings, the Oakland-based startup is now open to everyday savers and non-accredited investors with no minimum deposit required. The startup’s flagship product has made history as the first high-yield impact product to be qualified by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for mass market.

Functioning as a high-yield savings product, CNote pools deposits from multiple savers and invests it in highly-impactful, but largely unknown, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). CDFIs are U.S. Treasury certified, and exist to help finance and support underserved populations like women and minority business owners.

CNote provides a 2.5% return to savers, a stark contrast to the 0.1% – or less – that most savers receive from traditional banks.

Founders Catherine Berman and Yuliya Tarasava built CNote out of a desire to help savers do good and do well.  The result of their collaboration is the first savings product to deliver outsized returns and positive social impact.

In December, the team ran a successful test with accredited investors, with over $9 million in committed savings under Reg D. In March, the company was selected as Best Startup Pitch Company at SXSW, as well as the Fintech Category Winner.

As the first platform of its kind, CNote is launching to the general public today with a cohort of  CDFI partners, including CDC Small Business and Pursuit Lending. They each provide a range of services and financing options for business owners who are often ignored or underserved by traditional financial institutions.

“There’s an estimated $300B of cash that just sits on the sidelines collecting dust in our savings accounts. There’s no reason we can’t unlock it for good by putting that money to work in our communities, while driving better returns for you,” Catherine Berman, CEO and Co-Founder of CNote said. “We could not be more thrilled to open our platform to everyday consumers and smart savers, and we hope people will see this as an opportunity to think outside the bank.”

This product is the first of CNote’s suite of competitive-yield, high-impact products that seek to redesign finance with a focus on financial inclusion and empowerment.

Interested CNote users can learn more about the platform at wpstaging.mycnote.com.

###

About CNote

Founded in 2016 by Catherine Berman and Yuliya Tarasava, CNote is a financial platform for socially-conscious savers and investors. The company’s flagship product offers a 2.5% return on savings — and 100% social impact — by tapping into Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which exist to help finance underserved small business owners. In September 2017, CNote became the first competitive-yield financial product to be federally recognized and available to the mass market with no minimum and no fees.

In March 2017, CNote was selected as Fintech Category Winner at South by Southwest. The venture-backed fintech company currently operates with a team of 8 out of Oakland, California.

Love0
By CNote, Migration V2

CNote explained in 60 seconds

Note that effective January 1, 2019, the rate on all CNote accounts has increased to 2.75%. 

If you are new to CNote you may have some questions. How do you pay 2.5%? How safe is CNote? Where does my money go?

The video below should help answer most of these questions in only 60 seconds.

If you still want to learn more, you may want to visit our FAQ or our Risk & Return Page.

 

Transcript of the video:

So you may be wondering, how does CNote earn you 2.5% on your savings when your bank pays you next to nothing?

Unlike banks, CNote doesn’t use your savings to fund credit cards or mortgages. We lend your deposits out to US-Treasury-certified community lenders that have more than 20 years of proven financial performance. 

These community lenders build our schools, fund our community centers and invest in the women and minority-led businesses that keep our communities thriving.

Until now, access to these high performing community lenders was only readily available to large banks and foundations. CNote’s proprietary technology gives every-day investors like you access to these investments.

Also, unlike banks, we return the profit earned on these loans back to you instead of keeping it to pay big bonuses and excessive overhead. We never charge you any fees, and the 2.5% goes straight into your pocket.

Welcome to a world of finance driven by good, not greed.

Welcome to CNote.

Love0
By CNote, Migration V2

CNote Social Impact Infographic

A lot of potential customers want to understand how CNote generates great returns along with helping financially-underserved communities across the United States. This simple infographic helps explain CNote’s model for generating a positive social impact.

Love0
By CNote, Migration V2

CNote – How it works video

Note that effective January 1, 2019, the rate on all CNote accounts has increased to 2.75%. 

This video explains how CNote is able to deliver a higher return on your savings while driving prosperity in communities across the United States. It highlights the institutions we invest in, their proven financial track record, and the tangible impact that they have.

Finance shouldn’t be complex or hard to understand. This video should help answer some of the questions you may have about CNote.

Earn more. Do good. Feel great.

 

If you still want to learn more, you may want to visit our FAQ or our Risk & Return Page.

 

Love0
By CNote, Migration V2

What drives CNote — A look back

In the startup world, six months can feel like a lifetime.

Indeed, its been about six months since CNote won the Fintech Category and took home Best Startup Pitch Company at SXSW. A lot has changed, our team has grown, but the most important things have stayed the same.

Same mission, prettier website

Despite growing as a company since March, our focus and core goals of offering a better return with tangible social impact have not changed.

In the future, the fashion might change, and the video cameras might get better, but we believe this pitch, delivered by co-founder Cat Berman, will reflect our core principles for years to come. That is why we decided to share it again as a reminder to our community, employees, and customers about the goal we are working towards. We are working to make finance more inclusive; where great returns are not reserved for the wealthy few. We are also crazy enough to think that you can get a great return while bringing prosperity to financially underserved communities and individuals across the country. 

The pitch

Hi, my name is Cat Berman, co-founder of CNote. Before I started CNote I was Managing Director at Charles Schwab and there I stumbled on this shocking finding, American’s are sitting on 300 billion dollars in just in case cash, not emergency fund cash but literally just in case cash. These are dollars sitting in our checking and savings accounts making nearly zero percent. What’s worse, we’re actually losing money, you see savings accounts don’t keep up with the rate of inflation anymore so you and I are losing about one percent of our nest egg, simply by leaving it in the bank, until now.

CNote delivers a return on your savings, two and a half percent, that’s 40 times better than traditional banks with 100% impact. We do it by working with a little known, but highly successful, financial tool called CDFIs. CDFIs aren’t new, they’ve been around for 20 years, they’re certified by the treasury department and nearly every major US bank uses CDFIs. What’s more, is every dollar invested in CDFIs goes to under-severed communities like women and minorities. CNote is the first and only company to unlock CDFI return and impact for every day savers.

How’d we do it, by creating a proprietary technology to optimize our savings across CDFIs. The team includes my co-founder Yuliya Tarasava, she ran a 10 billion dollar risk management function, Nikhil Desai our VP of Engineering was Senior Developer at Lending Club and this will be my 3rd start up. My last start up, Global Brigades is now in 5 countries. Last summer we launched our beta and to date we have over 7 million in savings on our platform. We’re excited for this year where we’ll be rolling out to potential 8 million customers with our 1st channel of distribution partner and donor advised fund. The average CNote saver starts by making 10 dollars a year on their savings account and with CNote ends up making over 500 dollars a year, just by signing up in 3 minutes.

You work hard for your savings, it’s time your savings will work hard for you.

Earn more with good karma. Welcome to CNote.

Click below to watch.

We’ve got a lot of new and exciting things on the horizon. We look forward to sharing more of our story with you here.

Join us, as we work to make finance more inclusive.

-Team CNote