Wajve becomes Owwn and launches social banking app

Owwn is currently still testing its financial app. The start-up does not see itself as a new bank for young adults, but rather as a social banking platform.

Last year, the founder of "Deine Studienfinanzierung" Bastian Krautwald announced his intention to launch a new financial app under the name "Wajve. Now the start-up has renamed itself "Owwn" and is letting an exclusive group of customers test the app in early access.

The idea behind the startup combines a banking offering for young adults with student financing and social features: for example, customers can use Owwn to maintain an account with a Visa debit card and make mobile payments, just like a typical bank, but they can also apply for a student loan from Kfw Bank. At the same time, they can create shared savings pools, anonymously compare their budgets with friends, and participate in challenges. Users can use Owwn alone or collectively. For example, it is possible to maintain a joint account and automatically split bills. For financial services, Owwn cooperates with Solarisbank.

"Through "deineStudienfinanzierung" we understood that we needed to offer the Genz Z a digital infrastructure that combines student loans with a complete banking offering and other financial features - that's how the idea for wajve came about," Krautwald explains. "After more than a thousand user interviews, we learned that for Gen Z representatives, our banking offering delivers the most value when it's in a social context." That's how the Owwn app was eventually born, adding social features to Wajve's idea. To launch the app, the startup also expanded its team, with Max Pflücke taking on the post of VP Customers and Collette Wasielewski becoming Creative Director.