Fintech

Some customer fraud and a lack of cooperation from partners Huntington Bank and Dwolla prevented Beam Financial from returning funds to savers, says Aaron Du, the fintech's CEO. He says he’s trying to make things right, but Huntington and Dwolla are taking the dispute to court.

Customers say the Beam savings app is down and the company isn't returning their money. The situation is putting third parties like Huntington and Dwolla in the firing line, though they say they're not at fault.

The company is best known for its reciprocal deposit program, but it’s finding new ways to serve banks without competing for their customers.

Both developments are part of the company’s strategy of becoming a full-service bank for its young, affluent customer base.

Speculation is part of the reason for the growing differential in market capitalization between legacy financial institutions and upstarts. But one venture capitalist says it's "a call to action" for traditional banks to match fintechs' all-digital, customer-friendly services.