i am seeing the explosion of neobanks but they aren’t profitable because of their margins, they’re powerful because of their funnels. so i have this "fat app" thesis, where the next decade of apps will be thin-margin fintechs becoming full-stack finance by vertically integrating deposits, yield, and distribution. neobanks by themselves live on thin unit economics, interchange and nim. they do what traditional defi and token ecosystems haven’t yet mastered: capture attention, lock behavior, and own user flow. effectively, they are running a similar playbook/objectives as chains like @suifoundation $SUI @monad @megaeth and maybe @cantonnetwork $CC could be a bit far-fetched for now, but essentially, neobanks themselves are like ecosystems or chains. they are likely the strongest customer acquisition and retention systems, here’s the neobank flywheel that makes them successful: acquisition → retention → monetization → trust loop • scale & stickiness apps like @revolutapp and @monzo prove that once you reach 10–60m maus, you control meaningful float. revolut is now getting deep into crypto, launching their own exchange. with crypto rails, arpu jumps through 24/7 trading, payments, and yield. • switching costs once your wallet, card, payroll, and bill pay live in one app, you don’t leave. that inertia is stronger than any chain or token loyalty. • cross-sell surface start with a debit card, then expand: savings → lending → yield vaults → remittance → merchant tools. • reg-adjacent advantage with proper kyc and stablecoin plumbing, you strip away most of tradfi’s compliance drag while still offering credible guardrails. the flow shift (what’s dying, where it’s going) sol-eco micro-narratives and meme trenches are exhausted playbooks, thin incremental buyers, heavy team/market-maker supply. capital is moving: 1. out of short-lived token plays. 2. into stable-yield platforms like neobanks. 3. into cex-discoverable apps @zora @baseapp @farcasterpump. 4. into stablecoin savings with verifiable yield backends (etherfi, t-bill baskets). 5. into privacy-default merchant payments, cross-border, compliant, invisible @cantonnetwork @brevis_zk. how neobanks actually make money (and their revenue drivers) • transaction & payment flow interchange fees from card spend, fx and spread income, merchant payment fees, and premium subscription tiers. • yield on stable deposits net interest margin (nim) generated from tokenized yield baskets, $eth staking and restaking, short-term t-bill wrappers, and market-neutral basis strategies. • credit & capital markets lending (starting with overcollateralized loans, expanding to payroll-anchored credit), order-flow monetization through cex partners, listing rebates, and affiliate/tax/crypto-back reward programs. tldr: why i think neobanks will win • neobanks are cac machines that funnel users into higher-margin products (lending, yield bundles, cards, cross-border). • crypto users = highest arpu in consumer tech; stablecoin rails compress cogs (fewer ops, 24/7 uptime, no batch windows). neobanks / consumer finance hubs @usetria — simple, self-custodial neobank bridging stable savings and on-chain yield, ICO on @legiondotcc upcoming, closed beta already saw $1.5M+ revenue, $20M+ tx volume, and 25K+ users in just 11 weeks. @ur_global by @mantle_official $MNT — mantle-backed consumer stack combining l2 efficiency with treasury-driven rewards. @plasma $XPL — chain-aligned neobank powering the full spend / save / earn cycle on stablecoin rails. @youngplatform — fiat↔crypto gateway with eu-regulated distribution surface. @galaxyoneapp — everyday yield + spend wallet for seamless defi adoption. @nook_savings — stablecoin savings app offering clear, transparent apr returns. @avicimoney $AVICI — digital-dollar neobank connecting stable assets with real-world merchant spend. @itstuyo — consumer fintech app blending payments, savings, and rewards on stablecoin rails; designed for seamless on/off-ramp and cross-border usability. @RevolutApp — global super-app for money, trading, and payments; scaling from neobank to full-stack finance with crypto exchange, yield, and investment products. payment rails / merchant layer @kastcard — web3 payment card and loyalty infrastructure for global users. @redotpay — cross-border stablecoin payments and merchant settlement layer. @alchemypay $ACH — fiat–crypto payment gateway enabling global token acceptance. @anomapay — privacy-preserving payment network for peer-to-peer and merchant transactions. yield & deposit backends @ether_fi $ETHFI — liquid restaking protocol acting as the yield engine behind on-chain savings accounts. @teafi_official $TEA — tokenized yield aggregator bundling staking and real-world yield sources. credit & finance infrastructure @humafinance $HUMA — on-chain credit marketplace for payroll-anchored and real-world receivable lending. ecosystem / chain alignment @aeon_community — community-driven finance layer linking ecosystems to stable yield and defi tools. projects potentially building into the neobanking narrative @sosovaluecrypto $SOSO — data and analytics hub for on-chain finance; shaping the intelligence layer of next-gen neobanks through transparent market insights and portfolio analytics. @solvprotocol $SOLV — building the institutional backbone for btcfi and rwa-fi; powering yield-bearing bitcoin accounts and treasury-grade stable products for neobank integrations. @upshift_fi — non-custodial yield vault platform connecting defi and cefi; a plug-and-play yield layer for neobanks and consumer apps.