Business

Will Smith Invests in App that Helps Teens with Financial Literacy

THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES — Will Smith recently became an investor in Step, a mobile-based banking service app for teenagers, through his Dreamers fund. Step allows teens to easily send and receive money from their family and friends, get real-time notifications, and they don’t have to deal with the monthly or overdraft fees and no minimum balance that traditional banking customers incur.

Published

7 years ago

June 19, 2019

Oakland Post

By Sequoia Blodgett

Will Smith recently became an investor in Step, a mobile-based banking service app for teenagers, through his Dreamers fund. Step allows teens to easily send and receive money from their family and friends, get real-time notifications, and they don’t have to deal with the monthly or overdraft fees and no minimum balance that traditional banking customers incur.

The platform’s lead investor is Stripe. Other investors include Nas, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Wndrco, Ronnie Lott, Matt Rutler, Kevin Gould, and Moat founders Noah and Jonah Goodhart. Those investments translate into $22.5 million in funding.

This isn’t the company’s first round raised, however. Prior to this, the company closed a previous round with Crosslink Capital, Collaborative Fund, and Sesame Ventures.

“Schools don’t teach kids about money,” CJ MacDonald, the CEO, and co-founder said in an interview with TechCrunch. “We want to be their first bank accounts with spending cards, but we also want to teach financial literacy and responsibility. Banks don’t tailor to this, and we want to be a solution for teaching the next generation of adults to be more responsible with money in the cashless era. It was easy with cash to go to the mall but now everyone is using their phone for Uber and more.”

The funding will be used to bring Step’s first product to market, banking accounts with payment cards attached. This will be done in partnership with Mastercard and Evolve.

Step currently has a waitlist of over 500,000 potential users waiting for access to the product.

Step isn’t the first company attempting to tackle this problem. Other startups include Current and Greenlight. What makes Step different? The offerings. Step directly addresses teens by giving them ownership over their finances. The parents still have access but, Step puts the teen in control. Those under 18 can sign up for accounts without parental or guardian consent gaining access to an account with extremely limited functionality. The overarching goal for Step is to financially empower the youth.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

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Financial Wellness and Mental Health: Managing Money Stress in College 

While everyone’s financial situation is unique, several common sources of stress have the potential to strain your financial health. These include financial and economic uncertainty, existing debts, unexpected expenses, and mental or physical health changes. Financial stress may differ from situation to situation, but understanding the factors contributing to yours may help you begin to craft a plan for your unique circumstances.

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3 weeks ago

March 17, 2026

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Sponsored by JPMorganChase

As a college student, managing financial responsibilities can be stressful.

If you’ve found yourself staying up late thinking about your finances or just feeling anxious overall about your financial future, you’re not alone. In one survey, 78% of college students who reported financial stress had negative impacts on their mental health, and 59% considered dropping out. While finances can impact overall stress, taking steps to manage your finances can support your mental, emotional and physical well-being.

When it comes to money, the sources of stress may look different for each student, but identifying the underlying causes and setting goals accordingly may help you feel more confident about your financial future.

Consider these strategies to help improve your financial wellness and reduce stress.

Understand what causes financial stress

2. Determine your financial priorities

Start by reflecting on your financial priorities. For students this often includes paying for school or paying off student loans, studying abroad, saving for spring break, building an emergency fund, paying down credit card debt or buying a car. Name the milestones that are most important to you, and plan accordingly.

3. Create a plan and stick to it

While setting actionable goals starts you on the journey to better financial health, it’s essential to craft a plan to follow through. Identifying and committing to a savings plan may give you a greater sense of control over your finances, which may help reduce your stress. Creating and sticking to a budget allows you to better track where your money is going so you may spend less and save more.

4. Pay down debt

Many students have some form of debt and want to make progress toward reducing their debt obligations. One option is the debt avalanche method, which focuses on paying off your debt with the highest interest rate first, then moving on to the debt with the next-highest interest rate. Another is the debt snowball method, which builds momentum by paying off your smallest debt balance, and then working your way up to the largest amounts.

5. Build your financial resilience

Some financial stress may be inevitable, but building financial resilience may allow you to overcome obstacles more easily. The more you learn about managing your money, for instance, the more prepared you’ll feel if the unexpected happens. Growing your emergency savings also may increase resilience since you’ll be more financially prepared to cover unexpected expenses or pay your living expenses.

6. Seek help and support

Many colleges have resources to help students experiencing financial stress, like financial literacy courses or funds that provide some assistance for students in need. Talk to your admissions counselor or advisor about your concerns, and they can direct you to sources of support. Your school’s counseling center can also be a great resource for mental health assistance if you’re struggling with financial stress.

The bottom line

Financial stress can affect college students’ health and wellbeing, but it doesn’t have to derail your dreams. Setting smart financial goals and developing simple plans to achieve them may help ease your stress. Revisit and adjust your plan as needed to ensure it continues to work for you, and seek additional support on campus as needed to help keep you on track.

 JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC