From Marble Palaces to Money Apps: Redefining Finance for Everyone

Time: 8–10 min.

I remember the first time I entered a bank to open a passbook¹ savings bank account. Going up the mighty stairs and past ionic columns that stretched up to the sky. Through a wrought iron door that took all your might to move and into a palace with marble tiled floors and a ceiling so tall, a giraffe could walk under it. Behind mahogany counters and bullet proof glass was a friendly teller happy to help a new person save and enter the adulting world.

What I hadn’t realized then was that the bank was fairly new and had bought the building from a failed bank. That the failed bank had purposely built the building to look like an ancient Greek temple to give the impression of permanence. Or that the friendly teller who was only so happy to take my money turned into a banshee years later when I tried to withdraw it. Perhaps the bullet proof glass should have told me something.

Our philosophy since the day we started is, “Your money is yours to spend as you like”, sent to others as you will, saved for an emergency or another goal, and most importantly invested for your heart’s desires.

But our financial system is not built for this.

It is structured along distinct different vertical lines or regulatory authority. Banks, savings and loans, buildings’ societies, credit unions, commercial loan companies, home insurance, life insurance, brokers, commodity firms, annuities… each have their own State or Federal regulator they answer to. But that’s not how you or I think about our money.

Most of us have one primary income, and perhaps a significant other with another income of their own. Maybe some other income from investments, savings, inheritance or a business and that’s about it. Everything else is an expense from taxes to a new car, kids, education, vacations…

So why, if our financial life is simple, is finance hard?

It’s not.

But because every financial firm answers to a different regulator they make it sound hard. Believe it or not, this actually works to their benefit because of something called FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. You have it, they don’t and so they can charge you a lot for a little.

From the time my first bank tricked me into thinking it was a palace, I never liked how our financial system worked. So when I got a chance a few years ago to do something about it, I did.

I created Marygold & Co.

The idea was that normal people deserve the best client service that any multi-millionaire could get from a private banker. That technology had advanced enough to put that power in the hands of everyone. Literally in your hand, on your phone in our app.

To make sure this vision of Marygold & Co was baked into our DNA, employee #2 was a Head of Client Services.

So, how do we do it when traditional financial services firms can’t?

Simple. We navigate through our regulatory environment with determination. Not that we ignore rules, regulations and laws but rather we understand, follow and abide by each of those that applies to us.

Marygold & Co. offers payments, savings, banking and investing. That means while traditional financial firms answer to one regulator, we answer to four! (Actually, we answer to more than 4 but that’s another story). In practice, what this means is that if two regulators have similar rules (and they do), then we have toadhere to all applicable regulatory requirementsto remain in compliance. The ramifications of this is a long Terms and Conditions document each client agrees to, a strict Know Your Customer onboarding process, and sometimes a mysterious hitch or two which, because of anti-money laws, we can’t comment on.

Building a banking app that follows all regulations and rules is one of the ways we prove we are a trusted, reliable custodian for your money, even though we don’t have physical locations. Our process for opening a new account only takes minutes, even with the security measures we have built in.

Anyway, that’s why I created Marygold & Co., but the real credit goes to the people behind the app, employee #2 and beyond. Our incredible development teams, operations & compliance personnel and general management that keep the lights on every day and come up with incredible features like PayAnyone and Money Pools.

It’s because of them that we rolled out what I believe is our most important feature yet, a Cash Management Account with an initial rate boost of up to 6%.

Read all about our new rate offer.

We are launching our Cash Management Account to enable you to invest in US government T-Bills.² These bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury, so they are considered some of the safest investments you can own.

The only other way to buy a 4-week T-Bill in this small an amount is directly with the government at Treasury Direct. Good luck dealing with the website and trying to get your money back. They might as well be behind bullet proof glass!

Our Cash Management Account, on the other hand, allows you to withdraw money any business day and get the cash right then and there at the click of a button.

But wait, there’s more.

Treasury Bills don’t have to pay state or local taxes on the interest earned like you do on bank savings accounts.

Plus, there are NO limits on investing in T-Bills like there is on FDIC insured accounts.

AND T-Bills are safer than FDIC insured bank accounts.³

What! How is this possible?

T-Bills are a direct liability and obligation of the US Government.

The FDIC is an industry self-insured fund backstopped by an agency of the US Government. In other words, it’s one step removed and therefore less safe.

The Marygold & Co. Cash Management Account stands by itself.

But as a special introductory offer, we are boosting the earnings you get from the T-Bills, up to 6%.

Funding the earnings boost comes from our advertising budget. Instead of buying cable ads and swag, we’d rather use our money to enable you to earn more return on your money.

As of Dec. 9, 2024, the 4-week T-Bills are yielding 4.43% according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. To get you a 6% return on your money, we add a 1.57% boost to the T-Bill yield.

To give you some context: 6% is more than 15 times the national average bank savings rate if you had your money sitting in savings or checking accounts.

But like all good things, this special offer won’t last forever. It’s only good until June 30, 2025, or once total assets under management cross $100 million.

So open an account today, start saving and take our money. It may not happen again.

What will happen in 2025 is equally exciting!

We bought a bank. Well, we bought a little less than 10% of a bank. And with this, perhaps we can finally build the money app that deserves a palace.

Nicholas Gerber
Founder/CEO

¹Long ago, before smartphones, computers, or ATMs, if you had your money at a bank or a savings and loan or a credit union, you had to physically go to there to deposit or withdraw your money, and the bank gave you a ledger, a.k.a. a passbook, to keep track of your deposits and withdrawals, by hand, with the institution’s name foil stamped on the front of it to make you feel special and in control. Read more.
²INVESTMENT IN T-BILLS ARE: NOT FDIC INSURED 🔸 NO BANK GUARANTEE 🔸 MAY LOSE VALUE
³T-Bills are backed by the U.S. government. FDIC insurance provides deposit insurance protection that T-Bills do not offer.