Challenge: Banking solutions for an underserved community

Many barbers lack bank accounts and overall access to basic financial services; they often have mismatched cash flows and lumpy earnings which can lead to financial challenges.

With most customers preferring to use touchless mobile wallets linked to credit or debit cards during the pandemic, the cash tips barbers relied on went on barbers’ paychecks instead of in their pockets, making their cash flow even less predictable.

Solution: Advanced access to earnings

Dave and Songe own their own barbershop, giving Squire unique insights into the struggles of their community firsthand. Squire decided to offer their barbers banking solutions to better serve their needs and build tighter customer relationships; a debit card was an easy answer to enter the market quickly.

Providing barbers advanced access to their earnings means they can use their funds when they need them most. With the Squire Card, barbers have instant access to tips and commissions which also significantly improves cash flow for these small community businesses. By providing flexibility and freedom to barbers who were once so cash-based, Bond and Squire are bringing them into a modern way of interacting with finances through software.

Results: Transforming the barber community 

“The Squire Card transforms our ability to serve our community of barbers,” said Songe. “We’re lowering costs, cutting fees, and saving time while additionally giving rewards and driving loyalty for using our card.”

While Squire manages critical Point-of-Sale (POS) technology, the missing piece they had to fill was banking products. Squire selected Bond to create its fintech solutions because of Bond’s highly compliant and scalable architecture, deep bench of domain experts and white-glove approach to building the product. Squire was able to introduce the new card in a few short months compared with 18-24 months had they built it directly with a bank themselves.

Bond enabled Squire to build financial products directly into their existing mobile app so barbershop owners can immediately transfer funds to their employees, saving them money in fees for instant payouts. Similarly, barbers can pay their shop owners for the monthly use of their chair via the Squire Card’s integration into the same app they use to schedule appointments with clients and accept payments from them.

Today and beyond with Bond

Leveraging Bond's fintech infrastructure platform, Squire is delivering everything barbershops need on one unified platform.

"We chose Bond as our partner because we had confidence they could launch the Squire Card quickly and successfully while being a long term partner for years to come," said Dave. "We have our eyes on a credit card in the near future and we know that Bond can support that for us when we’re ready."

Just let us know when, Squire — we’ll be ready!