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Posted December 20, 2018

CapWay, a financial technology company that focuses on the unbanked, underbanked, and millennials, is moving from Sunnyvale, California — one of the major cities comprising Silicon Valley — to Atlanta.

Atlanta is closer to where CapWay founder Sheena Allen grew up in Terry, Mississippi — one of the poorest states in the U.S. It’s also closer to her customers, Allen said in a Hypepotamus interview.

Allen knows what it’s like to be on the outside of the traditional banking system. She grew up in rural Mississippi, 17 miles south of Jackson, where large banks would not set up branches, and high-fee check-cashing stores were about the only way to turn a check into cash.

“There was only one bank where I grew up so the whole town uses one bank. It’s called a bank desert,” Allen said during an interactive panel with Jamarlin Martin at HBCU@SXSW 2018 in Austin, Texas.

Since 2008, 10,000 bank branches have closed. When they leave, predatory services often move in, according to the CapWay website.

CapWay lets customers turn paper checks into digital currency via an Android or Apple app on mobile devices. Users can load money onto a prepaid card and access financial products and tips to help them move towards homeownership or building financial literacy. CapWay is doing this for thousands of people living in the U.S.

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