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Forbes Daily Briefing

This Fintech Is Winning With Hispanic Immigrants. Now It Has To Survive Trump

Forbes Daily Briefing

Forbes

Business, Tech News, News

4.418 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“For immigrant workers in the U.S., particularly Hispanics, their north star is not being able to buy a better car or get a shiny new toy. Their north star is, ‘I need to take care of my family,’” declares Andres Santos, CEO and cofounder of Común, a bilingual banking app. That insight is crucial to the success so far of his New York-based fintech, which offers free checking accounts, Visa debit cards and free access to a network of 88,000 ATMs, as well as some more unusual services: convenient and reasonably priced foreign money transfers; bilingual text and phone support; and the ability to open an account online using more than 100 different forms of identification from Latin America.  At a time when the nation’s foreign-born population is under attack by the Trump Administration and immigration (both documented and undocumented) has screeched to a halt, Común is making a go of it. It now has 276,000 open accounts and last year its revenue more than doubled to $12.5 million. That momentum was impressive enough to win it a first-time spot on Forbes’ 2026 Fintech 50 list.  But Común’s future is hardly guaranteed. Faced with competition from traditional banks and digital banking heavyweight Chime, at least six affinity bank startups have shut down or been acquired in the last four years. Significantly, the most recent to disappear was Seis, which offered a debit card for Hispanic immigrants. When it shut down last month, its CEO blamed declines in immigration. Santos, for his part, stresses that 65 million folks of Hispanic descent are already living in the U.S.—meaning he doesn’t have to rely on new arrivals for growth. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sophiaacevedo/2026/02/22/this-fintech-is-winning-with-hispanic-immigrants-now-it-has-to-survive-trump/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:00.4

Today on Forbes, this fintech is winning with Hispanic immigrants.

1:05.0

Now it has to survive Trump.

1:07.8

Andre Santos, CEO and co-founder of bilingual banking app Kamun, says, quote,

1:13.7

For immigrant workers in the U.S., particularly Hispanics, their North Star is, I need to take care

1:20.0

of my family. That insight is crucial to the success so far of his New York-based fintech,

1:26.3

which offers free checking accounts, visa debit cards,

1:29.9

and access to 88,000 ATMs, along with services tailored to immigrants, low-cost international transfers,

1:37.9

bilingual text and phone support, and the ability to open an account online using more than 100

1:43.4

forms of identification from Latin

1:45.7

America. Despite the nation's foreign-born population being under attack by the Trump administration

1:51.8

and slowing immigration, Khomeun is gaining traction. The company now has 276,000 open accounts,

1:59.6

and its revenue more than doubled last year to $12.5 million, earning

2:04.3

it a spot on the 26 Forbes Fintech 50.

2:08.6

But Kamun's future is not guaranteed.

2:11.9

Competition from traditional banks and digital players like Chime has been fierce, and at least

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