FinTech News
Concerto Raises $21 Million to Launch Credit Cards from Four MLB Teams
A startup that aims to create loyalty-minded co-branded cards has announced a major investment and partnerships to bring its vision to life. This week, Concerto announced that it had raised $21 million in early-stage funding. The round was led by Matrix Partners, while PayPal Ventures and GoldenTree Asset Management also participated. Furthermore, GoldenTree has created a joint venture with Concerto and will fund at least $2 billion in credit card receivables.
News of the funding round comes in concert with the launch of Concerto’s “next-generation card issuing and loyalty platform.” This platform will support the creation and management of co-branded credit card programs.
The first of these programs will come from Major League Baseball, where four teams have partnered with Concerto for upcoming products: the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles, and Cincinnati Reds. With these options, cardholders will enjoy access to game tickets, memorabilia, exclusive experiences, and more. Each of these cards will operate on the Mastercard network and offer digital cards, allowing customers to receive approval and begin using their cards immediately.
Commenting on this week’s news, Concerto co-founder and CEO Daniel Duncan declared, “Today’s launch is only the beginning. Concerto has aggressive plans to deploy our platform across a wide range of markets, where great credit card loyalty programs make sense for our partners and their customers.”
The SVP of Partnerships for the Texas Rangers Baseball Club Jim Cochrane said of working with Concerto, “Rangers fans are the best in baseball, and they deserve a truly meaningful rewards program. Concerto gives us the power to roll out all kinds of new experiences, and the Concerto team has enthusiastically incorporated our ideas faster than we thought possible.” Cochrane added, “What we’ve created together goes beyond any rewards program I have seen, and we are proud to be Concerto’s first sports partner.”
At first glance, Concerto’s model appears somewhat similar to Cardless. In fact, that FinTech has already launched loyalty credit card products in conjunction with a growing list of professional sports teams, including Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins. That said, Cardless has expressed plans to expand beyond its sports niche and has announced the upcoming launch of a LATAM Airlines card for the United States market.
While it doesn’t appear as though details on these initial MLB cards are available yet, it will be interesting to see what Concerto brings to the table — and how these options compare to Cardless’s. On that note, although it may prove unfair to compare the two, given the similarity in market, it’s something to be expected. However, with $21 million to fuel it forward, perhaps Concerto will be able to break out and grow into a FinTech force all its own.
