GroundSwell is a startup social purpose company that has found an innovative way to sustainably fund nonprofit organizations by partnering with them to create their own custom-branded Visa debit cards.
Each time a customer uses a debit card at a business, that business pays a fee to the bank. That fee generally is kept by the financial institution, which over time, adds up to millions of dollars in profit for the bank. Banks are profiting while thousands of nonprofits struggle to maintain funding, so GroundSwell has stepped in to help give money a mission.
Currently, the company provides these cards at no charge to the nonprofits to share with their loyal supporters and when those people spend money, GroundSwell splits the transaction fee revenue. Because it’s licensed as a bank, GroundSwell is able to redirect revenue to benefit organizations in need.
“Many bank and financial institutions offer debit cards and a few even share some money with nonprofits, but they do it as a way to supplement their core mandate to maximize short-term profits for shareholders,” said Toccara Stark, public relations representative for the company.
GroundSwell was started to counteract the economic inequality that exists in the world.
“As a social purpose corporation, our mission is literally baked into our bylaws,” Stark said. “This gives us great flexibility to innovate on behalf of the people we serve, and that means our primary motivation is to see them succeed. We can and will do things to make that happen – things that other banks would never seriously consider.”
Looking forward
GroundSwell is poised to launch its first group of customers this fall.
“This is a very exciting time for all of us,” Daniel Rubano, CEO of the company, said. “We are at a point in time in which we can all start making a positive difference on the planet. GroundSwell is our opportunity to come together and contribute to the changes we all want to see.”
Currently, the company has three full-time employees with nearly 20 participating vendors. This summer, the company launched a crowdfunding campaign via WeFunder to raise support and gain momentum in the incredibly competitive financial industry.
“One way to counteract economic inequality is to redistribute investment returns to a much bigger percentage of the population,” Stark said. “In that sense, crowdfunding our growth capital was a no brainer.”
Making a positive difference on the planet can now start with a simple debit transaction.
“GroundSwell allows people to act in a conscious manner and support causes they care about with something we do every day,” Rubano said. “Now a simple purchase is a form of activism, a contribution to a movement.”
Visit https://groundswellworld.com/ for more information on the GroundSwell company.
