Mos

Mos, operated by Askmos Inc., is a consumer financial product for students in the United States. Its core offering matches users to scholarships and grants drawn from a pool the company describes as worth over $160 billion, and pairs each user with a personal advisor who guides them on maximizing financial aid. Users build a scholarship profile by answering short quizzes in the app; Mos then surfaces matching awards, which students can save, track application status for, and open directly on the provider's application site. The company also runs its own exclusive scholarships, cited examples being "Black Students Matter" and "Back to School," and offers a financial plan for each school a student is considering to support college choice decisions.

Beginning around 2021, Mos expanded from an edtech scholarship platform into a challenger bank aimed at students. Its debit card carries no overdraft fees, late fees, or in-network ATM fees and requires no minimum balance. Founder Amira Yahyaoui framed the goal as becoming the primary bank for young people in the US, starting with students and following them into later life stages such as renting and paying bills. Accounts require a US-based phone number, verified by SMS; there is no age requirement, though the product targets high school through graduate students. Support and account servicing run through the mobile app, including an in-app chat feature, and the company requires customers to consent to electronic delivery of disclosures and communications.

Founding story

Founder Amira Yahyaoui, a human rights activist, could not afford to attend college herself, which motivated her to build a platform connecting students to scholarships. The company name references Mos Espa, the fictional desert town from Star Wars associated with Luke Skywalker, which the company links to Tataouine, the real desert town in Tunisia that Yahyaoui is from.

Business model

Mos operates a direct-to-consumer app for students. Historically it charged fees for access to its scholarship pool, generating what the founder described as a few million dollars in ARR under that model. After launching a debit card, the company shifted to earning interchange fees on card transactions, making scholarship access free to account holders. The founder said Mos planned to add paid product tiers, such as more hands-on advisor consultations or specific banking features.

Interchange fees on debit card transactions, replacing an earlier model of charging students for access to the scholarship database; planned future paid add-ons for advisor consultations and premium banking features.

Traction

As of February 2022, Mos reported more than 400,000 students in its community and said it had helped students unlock over $1.5 billion in declared scholarship money as of the prior year. More than 100,000 students opened accounts in the first quarter after the debit card launched, with a growth spike around November. The company declined to disclose current revenue or detailed growth metrics.

Latest developments

The most recent Mos-specific coverage in the material is the February 2022 Series B announcement and the accompanying expansion into student banking. Current company web pages describe scholarship matching, per-school financial plans, and dedicated advisors.