Our story
When Carlo Kobe boarded his plane from Germany to Boston for his freshman year at Harvard in 2019, the words “credit score” were neither in his vocabulary nor on his to-do list. But all of that changed when he attempted to get a phone plan and was denied due to his lack of credit history. In the following days, more rejections followed. He attempted to apply for various credit cards to build his score but with neither a cosigner, any existing credit history, or an appetite for a large security deposit, Discover, Bank of America and Chase all rejected him outright.
Scott Smith, our other co-founder, was much further ahead. Known amongst his friends at Cornell as a personal-finance wizard of sorts, he routinely helped them not only with interviews for investment banking, but also with the basics of personal finance, including how to properly and safely use a credit card.
Carlo and Scott met during an internship and bonded over their mutual interest in personal finance. They shared the observation that “financial adulting” remained a difficult challenge to overcome without the help of parents and friends. The data they found backed them up; not only are financial literacy rates amongst students at a three decade low, the average college student graduates with thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
Scott and Carlo challenged themselves to rethink credit building for college students from first principles. Together, they developed the idea for Fizz – a debit card that builds your credit and helps you learn about money.
Scott and Carlo secured funding from Kleiner Perkins, the investors behind Google, Doordash, Airbnb and many others. The Fizz card officially launched on January 12, 2023 and has already helped tens of thousands of college students from over 300 universities build towards brighter financial futures. Fizz was also recently named the top card for students by Business Insider in 2023.
Join us on our mission to be the financial ally for young adults – one card and credit score at a time.
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