Nina Mohanty is the founder and CEO of Bloom Money, a FinTech company that inspires migrant communities to build generational wealth with simple technology. She is a firm believer in improving monetary literacy to rethink the way customers interact with financial services. Nina appears in the Tech Women 100 Awards and also the Innovative Finance Women in the Fintech Power List.

AT: Why does financial technology inspire you?

NM: I have dedicated most of my career to FinTech because in the last ten years it has had a huge effect on the way we live and the way we think about and manage money. At university, I got myself into debt and talking about money was a taboo. The bank advised (in very small print) on 0% APR, or that it was free credit, and we have all been trapped in this because we were not educated otherwise. So, I racked up significant debt. The bank was unforgiving. FinTech companies allowed me to pay that debt down, start saving money and encouraged investing.

I have worked at Swedish company Klarna and a London start-up called Bud, but I really fell in love with FinTech when I started my career at Mastercard. I thought they were a bank but they are actually a card scheme and so many FinTech companies emulate them. I learnt how other entrepreneurs were solving problems using technology, and that inspired me. Since then, my whole career has been devoted to how technology can make people’s financial lives better. How can we give people the tools they need to reduce debt, build wealth in order to send their children to school and send money back home? That is the driving force that inspires me about FinTech.

Why did you launch Bloom Money?

When I was building these financial services products, I would always be creating it for the same user type – typically an upper middle class tech worker with disposable income who wanted to get on the housing ladder and who visited Marbella every summer. That’s fine, but I thought: ‘What’s the point of all this technology if we can’t apply it to the people that could really benefit from it?’ This led me to create Bloom.

One of your products is Bloom Circles – is that an old or new concept?

I talked to hundreds of people and discovered that many were taking part in ‘informal’ financial systems with their community, friends, and people from the church and mosque. Although this was great because it was communal and social, it didn’t always work because the longer people engaged in informal financial systems, the more they locked themselves out of formal financial systems. For example, there are stories of people who have saved enough money for a mortgage deposit but then the bank says ‘No, we don’t know who you are, you don’t have a credit score.’ People don’t exist in the system.

Another issue was that entire generations would take part in these ‘Circles’ which go by different names all around the world. So, in India they are called ‘chit’ funds, in Taiwan they’re called ‘kwey’, Somalis called it ‘ayuuto’ or ‘hegbad’, Nigerians call it ‘ajo’ or ‘esusu’, Caribbean communities call it ‘pardna’, and Bangladeshi and Pakistanis call it ‘kameti’. The funny thing is that everyone thinks they invented it, but it’s been going on for decades, perhaps centuries.

I realised it was almost always cash based, which is cumbersome to withdraw and deliver, unsafe, and you would not be rewarded when using it.

If something simple like your phone contract is able to build up your credit score, why can’t this? Therefore, we are making the old new again, and bringing this tradition, which is part of so many of our cultures, into the 21^st Century!

Are people’s behaviours leading to new financial products?

A big thing I struggled with is that we force people to contort themselves to fit the current financial system, e.g. ‘Here’s some tips and tricks to build your credit score’, or, ‘These are the things to keep in mind when you are trying to get a mortgage’, instead of saying: ‘You know what, the behaviour you’re already engaging in is really positive and you’re putting money aside every month.’ Why don’t we change the system to fit people and their behaviours? We’re making a digital version of what they are already doing.

Another relevant point is that there are millions of Muslims in this country who are underserved by the financial system because there are no options which are in line with their faith. So, we made Bloom Circles Sharia compliant. Separately, a lot of what we have been doing lately is translating basic personal financial key words and content on our Instagram pages, such as the Bloom Money A-Z.

For example, A is for APR, B is for Budget, C is for Credit Score. It’s translated into nine different languages and provides enormous confidence and familiarity to our customers.

Why is much of your focus on black and ethnic communities?

The UK is actually a very racially vibrant and diverse country, but the wealth in this country does not reflect that and we are trying to change it. One of the pivotal moments for me was in 2020 when the Runnymede Trust released a report called The Colour of Money. It’s a fascinating read and in summary, they found the average black African, black Caribbean, Bangaldeshi, and Pakistani family has ten times less wealth than the average white British family. There are many reasons for that and most of them are mired in systemic issues, but that is when I really thought that we need to build products to enable people to build wealth for themselves and by extension their communities.

You’ve had tough experiences being mixed race and being a woman. What’s your advice to anyone wishing to break into the industry?

My advice is to really sit in your power. It is not easy being a person of colour in this country.  I have received racist, sexist, and xenophobic abuse. Many times, people have said to me ‘Go back to your country,’ and I have replied, ‘I’m from the Silicon Valley!’ to which they are mystified. But I have stood firm in my conviction that not only are we doing the right thing and building the right products, but our communities will rise up and say, ‘Yes, you heard us, this is what we need. We want to be part of this journey and we want to build wealth with you at Bloom Money.’

In my free time I do a lot of work around causes that are important to me for example getting more women into technology, and equality for women in general.

I currently advise a not-for-profit charity that works with refugees; I’m advising a company that works with formerly incarcerated people to help them reintegrate into life; and I think I have been very driven by my morals, and again the conviction that this is the right thing to do.

What is your long-term vision at Bloom Money?

Dream big! Our mission is to give communities the tools to build inter-generational wealth. Anyone can build wealth for themselves, but where it becomes important is when you can pass that on to your family, children and community. That’s when it has a lasting impact and legacy. I would say the grand dream is to continue to create products that fit into our communities’ lives. I really like the idea of turning the system on its head.