Lanistar, a fintech startup that pays social media influencers to generate hype for bank cards, may be a scam, UK watchdog FCA warned

Lanistar is a U.K-based fintech startup that provides a customer-centric alternative to traditional banking. Lanistar claims to offer the “world’s most secure card” that uses “polymorphic technology to enable card users to add up to eight bank cards onto the Lanistar card.

Now it turned out that Lanistar has been providing financial services without approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom, but operates independently of the UK Government.

Yesterday, FCA issued a scam warning in a brief statement that Lanistar, which claims to have developed the “most secure card in the world,” has been providing financial services without its authorization. Lanistar has partnerships with several financial firms, the most notable being Mastercard.

“We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation. Find out why to be especially wary of dealing with this unauthorised firm and how to protect yourself from scammers,” FCA said in a statement.

FCA went on to warn customers on how they can protect themselves.

“We strongly advise you to only deal with financial firms that are authorised by us, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are. It has information on firms and individuals that are, or have been, regulated by us.”

Lanistar said it was aware of the FCA’s scam warning and would contact the regulator to clarify the matter and request the notice is removed. “Legal and regulatory compliance is central to Lanistar’s business and we confirm that we are not providing financial services or products without the FCA’s authorization.

Founded in 2020, Lanistar claimed to use polymorphic technology to provide a customer-centric alternative to the personal finance offerings provided by the incumbents in the sector. Lanistar recently announced partnerships with organizations such as Mastercard and Jumio. Lanistar has raised a total of £17 million in funding over 2 rounds and it is rumored to be valued at £1 billion.