New Hispanic Robo

A while back we published a story about Wahed, an Islamic-Finance robo that launched last year. It turns out the robo market is indeed segmenting by language. So when we learned that a new Hispanic-facing robo, which offers advice in both Spanish and English, had launched, we were intrigued but not surprised. Finhabits targets Latino Americans and in fact competes with micro-investing sites like Acorns, with contributions as low as $5, making it a very mass market product.

"When Carlos Garcia speaks about the Latino American community's lack of financial education, he offers himself as a prime example.

It wasn't until his third year at Merrill Lynch, he says, before he began investing in a 401(k).

"My parents taught me values of a strong work ethic, but we never talked about retirement," Garcia says. "I had no clue what it was."

The former-Merrill adviser heads the national launch of a new robo adviser, Finhabits, with roots in reaching out to Latino Americans and offering investing and advice through investment accounts and Roth IRAs with $5 minimums, comparable to other micro investing sites like Acorns.

Unlike those services, though, Finhabits is accessible in either English or Spanish, and is pricier — while accounts under $2,500 pay a monthly $1 fee, accounts over that amount pay 50 basis points a year.

Startups like Finhabits represent the broadening of digital advice offerings into even more niche audiences, fintech execs and observers say. Garcia, founder of Finhabits, notes the higher fees are accepted by his clients because the specialized platform's presence in those communities is a value in itself...."