The company does not plan to compete directly with banks or with players like Mercury that offer debit cards or merchant processing. Garcia was a senior vice president at SVB from 2014 to 2018 in charge of spinning up its Salt Lake City practice. "Of note: Originally slated to launch in November, the company went live in March as SVB was falling apart, leading to a surge in customer signups. Holdings is not focused on the startup industry, but most of its customers are tech businesses and former SVB and First Republic Bank clientele. Its largest customer is a real estate investment firm, as FRB notably was heavily involved in that sector.Bottom line: Distrust of big banks during the 2008 Financial Crisis gave birth to a flurry of neobanks.