FinTech News

Branded Customer Wallets FinTech Ansa Raises $14 Million

by Kyle BurbankApr 30, 2024

A FinTech that helps businesses create stored value payment programs has raised a fresh round of funding.

About the round:

Ansa has announced a new $14 million round. The Series A was led by Renegade Partners while Bain Capital Ventures, B37 Ventures, Box Group, and Wischoff Ventures also participated. This latest round comes almost exactly one year after a seed round, bringing the company’s total funds raised to $19.4 million.

According to Ansa, this funding will allow it to broaden the depth of its payment solutions. This includes a focus on product development and engineering, with the ultimate goal of enabling merchants to better engage with customers.

About Ansa:

Ansa helps companies launch what they call branded customer wallets. Using the service’s APIs and SDKs, both brick-and-mortar and online retailers can create their own stored value offerings with rewards incentives for customers. In fact, Ansa compared their programs to a “Starbucks app-like experience.” Not only can these options promote loyalty among customers but can also help retailers save on payment processing fees.

The FinTech reports that users of its platform report a 30% increase in average order frequency as well as a 26% rise in revenue. At the same time, retailers see payment fees decline by an average of 28%.

What they’re saying:

Explaining the idea behind Ansa, the company’s CEO and co-founder Sophia Goldberg said, “Commerce has outpaced payments innovation. The technology paradigms we use for payments are decades old. As our world increasingly digitizes, consumers demand better experiences as businesses continue to innovate. Both consumers and merchants deserve more flexibility, which is why we built Ansa.”

Goldberg added, “From marketplaces and microtransactions to convenience stores and quick-serve businesses, modern commerce has changed. At Ansa, we are excited to pioneer solutions that enable merchants to optimize seamless payment strategies, boosting customer engagement, retention, and frequency for sustained growth in today’s competitive market.”

Meanwhile, Renegade Partners managing partner (and newly appointed Ansa board member) Renata Quintini said of the firm, “Ansa is setting a new standard for how we’ll all transact in the future, with a pioneering payments solution that lets merchants trade burdensome credit card processing fees for increased customer lifetime value (LTV). With a CEO that literally wrote the book on payments, Ansa’s branded closed-loop wallet enables merchants to deliver seamless purchasing experiences to their customers — increasing retention, frequency, and overall loyalty.”

My thoughts:

As someone quite familiar with the Starbucks app that Ansa references, its branded customer wallets sound like a great idea for small businesses. From what I can tell, these stored value options provide a win-win for customers and business owners, with the former gaining rewards and the latter saving on payment processing (while also potentially gaining some upfront capital from loyal shoppers). Then again, Ansa’s solutions do have some steep competition as more comprehensive small business options, such as Square, already have similar rewards options built in — albeit without the stored value aspect for the most part.

Still, Ansa’s Series A shows that there’s investor interest in the concept. With this boost, perhaps it will be able to convince more businesses to try their branded wallet solutions, even if it is in addition to their existing payment infrastructure.

Author

Kyle Burbank

Head Writer ~ Fioney

Kyle is the head writer for Fioney. He is a personal finance nerd, constantly looking for new apps and services to test and incorporate into his own financial game plan. In addition to his role at Fioney, he's written for other publications including Born2Invest, Lifehack, and Laughing Place, as well as his own site Money@30. He also creates personal finance and travel-related videos for Fioney's YouTube channel, which has garnered more than 2 million views. Currently, Kyle resides in Springfield, Missouri with his wife of 10 years. Together, they enjoy traveling (including visiting Disney Parks around the world), dining, and playing with their dog Rigby.

NerdWallet Introduces Monthly "Financial Resilience Index"

by Kyle BurbankMay 22, 2026

The popular personal finance site NerdWallet has premiered a new monthly index meant to highlight how prepared American consumers are for economic uncertainty. About the Financial Resilience Index: This week, NerdWallet introduced the Financial Resilience Index. For this index, the site commissioned Harris Poll to survey 2,072 adults in the United States. These respondents were asked questions across three different categories: financial security, financial strength, and economic outlook. Specifically, the...

Credit Card News

Fanatics to Launch Rewards Credit Card with American Express

by Kyle BurbankMay 21, 2026

American Express and Fanatics have announced a partnership that will not only result in a new rewards credit card but will also lead to a new option for other cardholders. About the Fanatics American Express Card: This week, Amex revealed that it was teaming up with the sports merchandise site Fanatics. As part of this partnership, the two will create the Fanatics American Express Card. According to a press release,...

Personal Finance News

Bilt Partners with Flying Blue for Rewards on Rent for Cardholders

by Kyle BurbankMay 20, 2026

Those with the Air France/KLM rewards credit card can now earn bonus miles when paying rent via the Bilt platform. About the Bilt/Flying Blue Rent Payment Offer: Bilt is expanding its rent payment platform to give those with the Air France KLM Visa Signature Credit Card greater mileage rewards. Now, those cardholders can earn a total of 3 Flying Blue miles per $1 spent on rent payments made using Bilt....