FinTech News
FinTech Co-Branded Card Company Cardless Raises $30 Million
A co-branded credit card solution company has raised a new round of funding.
About the round:
This week, Cardless announced that it’s raised $30 million. The round was led by Activant Capital with new and returning investors such as Mischief, Industry Ventures, Thayer Ventures, Assurant, and Amex Ventures also participating. With this latest funding, Cardless has now raised more than $90 million to date (plus a $75 million credit facility last year).
Cardless says that the funding will enable it to continue hiring engineering and operations talent. Additionally, the company intends to expand its co-branded credit card and loyalty products, including adding retail, e-commerce, and small business partners.
Currently, Cardless’s consumer card portfolio features co-branded cards with foreign airlines such as Avianca, Qatar Airways, TAP Air Portugal, and LATAM as well as a Simon Malls rewards card. In September, the company also introduced its first business credit card in partnership with Alibaba.
What they’re saying:
Discussing the recent success Cardless has seen, the company’s co-founder and president Michael Spelfogel said, “Over the last 12 months we’ve been able to design products for some of the best brands in the world, including Qatar Airways and Alibaba. These brands chose us because of our differentiated approach to the entire co-branded card experience. From embedded servicing to leveraging a brand’s data for personalized sign-up offers, Cardless delivers an experience that other cobrand-focused banks and fintechs cannot match.”
Regarding the latest round, Spelfogel added, “We’ll use this funding to further build out a world-class team, enabling us to scale both new and existing programs.”
Meanwhile, Activant Capital co-founder said of the firm’s investment, ” Cardless is attacking one of the largest markets in fintech that has historically been woefully underserved. Before Cardless, the largest brands in the world had been unwilling to launch credit cards because the customer experience provided by cobrand-focused banks didn’t meet their standards. Cardless has been able to take the industry head on and launch cards with some of the most sought-after brands on the market.”
My thoughts:
Once upon a time, Cardless was known for its unique partnerships with sports teams, bringing special reward cards to fans. However, as the company’s current line-up of cards shows, they’ve since pivoted into other niches. Now, with more capital helping to fuel its endeavors, it will be interesting to see what types of products Cardless looks to offer next.
It’s also worth noting that, just ahead of this funding announcement, Avianca unveiled a limited-time enhanced welcome bonus deals for its Cardless offerings. This isn’t to suggest that the two pieces of news are related — but having extra funding does potentially allow Cardless to grow its customer base with such plays. Thus, this is another aspect I’ll be keeping an eye on in the coming months.
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