Mobility Capital Finance Inc. [MoCaFi], a Harlem and Newark-based fintech, announced the launch of its upgraded mobile banking platform, which the company said is designed to help address historic inequalities in communities of color regarding access to financial services.

MoCaFi officials said Black and Latino communities in the U.S. have been disproportionately hurt by the loss of jobs and emergency savings during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said the new mobile banking service will help address some of those specific needs.

"MoCaFi is reimaging banking and turning local retail locations into new bank locations where people can add money, withdraw money into their bank accounts for free," Wole Coaxu, founder and CEO of MoCaFi, told Mobile Payments Today via email.

The fintech has established partnerships with VanillaDirect to create a network of 80,000 retail stores where customers can make account deposits and with Allpoint to enable free ATM withdrawals at 55,000 locations.

MoCaFi is offering a new MoCaFi Mobility Bank Account, which includes the MoCaFi Mobility Debit Mastercard, which offers access to no-fee ATM withdrawals and various options for loading funds onto the card. The account also provides options for mobile wallet use, tap-and-go contactless payments and advanced security features like Mastercard ID Theft Protection.

The Mastercard is issued by Sunrise Banks N.A. through a license with Mastercard International, and can be used anywhere on the Mastercard network.

The account features a number of tools for financial literacy, credit and wealth building. For example, customers can pay their rent directly through the mobile app and have that information reported to Equifax and TransUnion to help build a credit history.

MoCaFi also is partnering with a range of minority-owned businesses to give customers access to discounts on services ranging from grooming to organic home goods.