# Aspiration (now GreenFi)

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/greenfi
> research date 2026-10-22 · extracted at 2026-10-23
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [Introducing GreenFi — GreenFi](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi)
- [The Next Step for Aspiration — GreenFi](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/aspirations-next-steps)
- [US Attorney CDCA: Sanberg sentenced, 1 Jun 2026](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14)

## Overview

**Aspiration** was a US "green" neobank: checking, savings and investing that promised deposits would not fund fossil fuels and let customers fund tree planting with each card purchase. It no longer exists under that name. In April 2024 its consumer business was spun out of Aspiration Partners Inc. to **Mission Financial Partners**, led by Tim Newell [[1]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/aspirations-next-steps). On 22 April 2025 the business relaunched as **GreenFi**, with customers' accounts carried over [[2]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi). The former parent, renamed **CTN Holdings, Inc.**, filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 and its assets were sold [[3]](https://elevenflo.com/blog/ctn-holdings-aspiration-partners-bankruptcy). Its co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced in June 2026 to 14 years in prison for defrauding investors and lenders [[4]](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14). GreenFi's accounts are held at Coastal Community Bank [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us).

## History

- **2015: launch.** Aspiration Partners Inc., a Los Angeles start-up led by chief executive Andrei Cherny, let customers decide how much to pay in fees, even 0%. It introduced a checking account in summer 2015 and raised $15.5 million that September [[6]](https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-aspiration-20150918-story.html). Joseph Sanberg was a co-founder and board member [[4]](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14).
- **2020–2022: the fraud.** Prosecutors say Sanberg's scheme began in 2020. Between 2020 and 2021 he and board member Ibrahim AlHusseini obtained $145 million in loans by pledging his Aspiration stock against falsified statements. From March 2021 to November 2022 Aspiration booked revenue from sham tree-planting customers whose payments Sanberg secretly supplied himself [[4]](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14).
- **April 2024: spin-out.** Tim Newell, who had run the consumer unit as Aspiration Partners' chief operating officer, agreed to spin the consumer brand out into a standalone company. Mission Financial Partners, which he founded in 2023, became its operator. The price was not disclosed [[7]](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/aspiration-spins-off-consumer-financial-brand-tim-newell-ceo/715557/). Newell said the parent had shifted to investing in global carbon markets, and that run-rate operating costs had been cut by 68% over the year before [[1]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/aspirations-next-steps).
- **28 February – 30 March 2025: collapse of the parent.** The Justice Department filed a criminal complaint against Sanberg on 28 February 2025. CTN Holdings, Inc., formerly Aspiration Partners, filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on 30 March 2025 (case No. 25-10603), with about $170 million of debt [[3]](https://elevenflo.com/blog/ctn-holdings-aspiration-partners-bankruptcy).
- **22 April 2025: GreenFi.** The consumer business relaunched as GreenFi and raised a $17 million seed round [[2]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi) [[8]](https://pulse2.com/greenfi-climate-friendly-banking-company-raises-17-million/).
- **June–August 2025: liquidation.** The sale of substantially all of CTN's assets to Catona Solutions, LLC closed on 17 June 2025, and the debtors asked to convert to Chapter 7 on 11 July [[9]](https://chapter11cases.com/blogs/news/ctn-holdings-seeks-chapter-7-conversion-following-asset-sale). The buyer was the insider lender Inherent Aspiration, LLC through a $20 million credit bid, and the cases converted on 7 August 2025 [[3]](https://elevenflo.com/blog/ctn-holdings-aspiration-partners-bankruptcy).
- **October 2025 – June 2026: sentence.** Sanberg pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in October 2025. On 1 June 2026 he was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for a scheme that caused at least $248 million in losses [[4]](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14).

## Ownership & operator

GreenFi is operated by **Mission Financial Partners, LLC**, the App Store seller of the app [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us). Newell is its founder and CEO [[8]](https://pulse2.com/greenfi-climate-friendly-banking-company-raises-17-million/). GreenFi says it is "a fully independent company", and that the legal issues of people associated with Aspiration Partners have no connection to it or to customers' accounts [[2]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi). It is not a bank. The checking and savings accounts and the Mastercard debit cards are issued by **Coastal Community Bank**, Member FDIC. An affiliate, GreenFi Fund Adviser, LLC, is an SEC-registered investment adviser [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us). Coastal Community Bank is based in Everett, Washington, FDIC certificate 34403 [[10]](https://api.fdic.gov/banks/institutions?filters=NAME:%22Coastal%20Community%20Bank%22&fields=NAME,CERT,CITY,STALP,ACTIVE,ESTYMD&limit=5). During the spin-out the accounts were converted from broker-dealer cash management accounts to checking and savings accounts [[7]](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/aspiration-spins-off-consumer-financial-brand-tim-newell-ceo/715557/).

## Technical integration

- **Cards.** GreenFi debit cards are Mastercard cards [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us). GreenFi Plus members get a Mastercard World Debit card [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus). Customers moving from Aspiration were sent a new GreenFi tap-to-pay card [[2]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi).
- **Plant Your Change.** Customers who opt in have GreenFi debit-card transactions rounded up to the next dollar, and the excess funds tree planting [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us).
- **Deposits and ATMs.** Balances above $250,000 are swept across program banks, for FDIC cover of up to $1 million per depositor. Withdrawals at over 55,000 Allpoint ATMs are unlimited [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us).
- **Rails.** GreenFi publishes nothing on the US instant-payment networks or Zelle, so no standard is listed in the metadata.

## Users & growth

GreenFi publishes no customer count. The available measures are of impact, as the company reports them:

| Period | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| September 2015 | "a few thousand accounts", doubling on average every six weeks | [[6]](https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-aspiration-20150918-story.html) |
| To April 2024 | Over 28 million trees planted by the community | [[1]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/aspirations-next-steps) |
| 2024 | More than 4.3 million trees funded (CEO's statement) | [[8]](https://pulse2.com/greenfi-climate-friendly-banking-company-raises-17-million/) |
| 2025 | 754,378 trees in Kenya, 2,024,511 in Tanzania, 536,769 in Haiti and 157,999 in Senegal | [[12]](https://www.greenfi.com/2025-impact) |
| 22 Oct 2026 | 30,577 App Store ratings (US); 1M+ Google Play downloads | [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us) [[13]](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aspiration.app&hl=en) |

The four 2025 country figures add up to 3,473,657 trees. These are company figures: the Justice Department case concerned fake revenue from tree-planting contracts at the former parent [[4]](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14), not GreenFi's planting counts.

## Use cases

- **Everyday spending** with the debit card, with pay up to 2 days early through direct deposit [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us).
- **Savings.** As read on 22 October 2026, savings earn 1.00% APY on the free plan and up to 3.25% APY on GreenFi Plus, if conditions are met [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus).
- **Climate features.** Round-up tree planting [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us), and for Plus members carbon offsets for gas purchases ("Planet Protection"). Plus members also get cash back at "Green Marketplace" brands: 6% on Plus and 3% on the free plan [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus).

As read on 22 October 2026, the base plan is "Pay What Is Fair" with no mandatory monthly fee. GreenFi Plus costs $7.99/mo, or $5.99/mo paid annually [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus).

## Implementations & partners

- **Bank partner:** Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, Aspiration's long-time partner, kept for GreenFi [[1]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/aspirations-next-steps).
- **Card network:** Mastercard [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us).
- **ATM network:** Allpoint [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us).
- **Merchants:** 248 brands and over 78,000 EV chargers in the Green Marketplace in 2025 [[12]](https://www.greenfi.com/2025-impact).

## Fun facts

- The fee model was there from the start: in 2015 about one in ten customers chose to pay nothing [[6]](https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-aspiration-20150918-story.html).
- A fabricated audit-committee letter that Sanberg used claimed $250 million of cash. At the time Aspiration had less than $1 million [[4]](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14).

## Comparison

| | GreenFi (ex-Aspiration) | [Chime](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/chime), [Varo](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/varo), [Current](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/current) |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Partner-bank neobank with climate features | US neobanks (see each bio) |
| Pricing | Pay What Is Fair, or Plus at $7.99/mo [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus) | See each bio |
| Selling point | Deposits not lent to oil, gas or coal; tree planting [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus) | See each bio |

The user-choice criterion is the climate pledge. GreenFi says its program banks have formally committed not to use customer deposits for lending to oil and gas exploration, production or transportation, or to coal mining [[11]](https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus).

## Status

**Active as GreenFi; the Aspiration brand is discontinued.** The iOS app, the same listing that once carried the Aspiration name (bundle `com.aspiration.summit`), is now "GreenFi - Mobile Banking". It was updated on 7 October 2026 [[5]](https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us). The Android app, still under the package `com.aspiration.app`, was updated on 20 October 2026 [[13]](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aspiration.app&hl=en). aspiration.com now redirects to GreenFi's announcement page [[2]](https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi). The former parent's bankruptcy continues as a Chapter 7 liquidation [[3]](https://elevenflo.com/blog/ctn-holdings-aspiration-partners-bankruptcy). ESG News put CTN's debts at about $170 million and named the Los Angeles Clippers and Kia Forum among its largest unsecured creditors [[14]](https://esgnews.com/climate-startup-that-partnered-with-microsoft-and-meta-files-for-bankruptcy).

## Sources

[1]: https://www.greenfi.com/resources/aspirations-next-steps "The Next Step for Aspiration: Enter GreenFi, The Future of Green Financial Services — GreenFi, 23 Apr 2024"
[2]: https://www.greenfi.com/resources/introducing-greenfi "Introducing GreenFi — GreenFi, 22 Apr 2025"
[3]: https://elevenflo.com/blog/ctn-holdings-aspiration-partners-bankruptcy "CTN Holdings: $20M Credit Bid Sale and Chapter 7 Conversion — Elevenflo, read 22 Oct 2026"
[4]: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-who-co-founded-environmentally-friendly-finance-company-sentenced-14 "Orange County Man Who Co-Founded Environmentally Friendly Finance Company Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison for Massive Fraud — US Attorney's Office, Central District of California, 1 Jun 2026"
[5]: https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=1074342516&country=us "GreenFi - Mobile Banking (App Store lookup, US) — Apple, read 22 Oct 2026"
[6]: https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-aspiration-20150918-story.html "China's Renren leads $15.5-million investment in L.A. start-up Aspiration — Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep 2015"
[7]: https://www.bankingdive.com/news/aspiration-spins-off-consumer-financial-brand-tim-newell-ceo/715557/ "Aspiration spins off consumer financial brand — Banking Dive, 8 May 2024"
[8]: https://pulse2.com/greenfi-climate-friendly-banking-company-raises-17-million/ "GreenFi: Climate-Friendly Banking Company Raises $17 Million — Pulse 2.0, 29 Apr 2025"
[9]: https://chapter11cases.com/blogs/news/ctn-holdings-seeks-chapter-7-conversion-following-asset-sale "CTN Holdings Seeks Chapter 7 Conversion Following Asset Sale — Chapter11Cases (Stretto), 14 Jul 2025"
[10]: https://api.fdic.gov/banks/institutions?filters=NAME:%22Coastal%20Community%20Bank%22&fields=NAME,CERT,CITY,STALP,ACTIVE,ESTYMD&limit=5 "Coastal Community Bank (BankFind API) — FDIC, read 22 Oct 2026"
[11]: https://www.greenfi.com/greenfi-plus "GreenFi Plus — GreenFi, read 22 Oct 2026"
[12]: https://www.greenfi.com/2025-impact "2025 Impact Report — GreenFi, read 22 Oct 2026"
[13]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aspiration.app&hl=en "GreenFi - Mobile Banking — Google Play, read 22 Oct 2026"
[14]: https://esgnews.com/climate-startup-that-partnered-with-microsoft-and-meta-files-for-bankruptcy "Climate Startup That Partnered With Microsoft and Meta Files for Bankruptcy — ESG News, 2 Apr 2025"

## Source

Biography extracted from [greenfi.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/greenfi). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.