aterra

i came to the us at the age of 14. with having no family member or legal guardian in the us, i was not able to open a bank account. all three years of high school, i survived on cash.

moving to college, i tried opening a credit card. however, i was not able to do so without a social security number. it wasn't until my second year of college when i had my ssn that i was able to apply for my first credit. still, i already lost a good amount of time to build my credit history early like most americans.

that's the core problem for the majority of international students in the usa. for them, financial management and know-how does not seem to be a big matter until they start exploring it and realize how confusing and overwhelming it is, and it's even more troublesome having to manage finances alongside other matters like immigration docs, traveling abroad, living expenses, and a lot more.

that being said, i decided to partner with a friend of mine, eduardo, who came to the us from panama, and start aterra, the banking and card system for international students, enabling students and families to remove the hassle of american banking.

we're at the early stage. the company is just a few weeks old (as of now), but we're moving fast and have already been in conversations with a good number of educational consultants and agencies and baas partners.

we're building toward the future where international students and immigrants can get access to american banking and financial opportunities conveniently and confidently.