Fintechs Leave Depositors in the Lurch with Outsourced Banking

Adam Moelis and Ben Doyle had an outside-the-box business pitch: Many Americans struggle to build a savings habit but also enjoy spending money playing the lottery. What if they could combine a bank account with a sweepstakes to make savings more fun?

The two entrepreneurs developed the idea with the help of Y Combinator, a storied tech incubator where business founders can hone their ideas and get them in front of venture capitalists. In 2020, Moelis and Doyle launched a finance app called Yotta. For every $25 users deposited into Yotta, they’d get a virtual sweepstakes ticket instead of interest. ...