MrBeast’s finance app for kids is backed by a bank that’s faced regulatory scrutiny and a fintech partner’s failure
The YouTuber’s new fintech venture relies on Evolve Bank & Trust, a partner bank of the now-collapsed Synapse that has dealt with numerous setbacks.
On a chilly October morning last year in Memphis, Tenn., a federal agent watched as a dark-colored Mazda SUV pulled into the parking lot of Evolve Bank & Trust. The driver was Robert Hartheimer, the recently appointed chief executive of the Memphis-based bank.
Days earlier, investigators say an account linked to Hartheimer contacted an undercover FBI agent posing as a 15-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. Agents observed Hartheimer arrive at the bank’s headquarters and arrested him two days later on charges that he attempted to produce child pornography and sent a sexually explicit image to someone he believed was a minor, court records show. Evolve Bank fired its CEO immediately after the arrest, and Hartheimer pleaded guilty to both charges earlier this year.
Although allegations against Hartheimer were unrelated to his work at the bank, the case marked another blow for Evolve Bank & Trust, which is known for providing banking services behind the scenes for financial-technology companies including Affirm
AFRM, EarnIn and others. Hartheimer had been hired only months before his arrest to help the bank move past a series of setbacks — most notably, the collapse of Synapse Financial Technologies, a company that helped Evolve partner with fintech companies. The bank has also since faced scrutiny from regulators and lost clients such as Stripe and Mercury, which moved to work with different partner banks.