Cardless, a fintech firm specialising in co-branded credit card solutions, has raised $30m in a growth investment funding round led by Activant Capital.
Other participants included Mischief, the fund co-founded by Plaid’s Zach Perret, as well as Industry Ventures, Assurant, Thayer Ventures, and Amex Ventures.
This latest funding round increases Cardless’ total equity funding to more than $90m.
The investment comes amidst challenging market conditions, including rising interest rates and inflation, said the fintech firm. Despite these obstacles, Cardless is said to have achieved robust revenue growth with more than tenfold since the beginning of 2023.
Cardless plans to utilise the funding to further develop its co-branded credit card and loyalty products and expand its engineering and operational teams.
Besides, the company also aims to expand into retailers, e-commerce platforms, and small-to-medium businesses (SMBs).
The company is said to be the only fintech to offer co-branded cards on all three of the largest global payment networks, namely Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
In addition, Cardless stated that it is among a select few in the US to provide Visa Infinite, Visa’s premium card product.
The fintech has reported impressive growth metrics, including a threefold increase in gross transaction value (GTV) and a fivefold rise in annual recurring revenue (ARR) over the past year.
Cardholder numbers have doubled in just six months, with its premium cards averaging nearly 20 transactions per month.
This year, the company expanded its portfolio with the launch of several high-profile co-branded cards. Notable partnerships include airlines such as Avianca and Qatar Airways.
These collaborations add to Cardless’ existing partnerships with LATAM and TAP Air Portugal, bringing its total airline partnerships to four.
Additionally, Cardless entered the business and e-commerce sectors by partnering with Alibaba to introduce its first business credit card tailored for SMBs.
Cardless 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 personalised sign-up offers, Cardless delivers an experience that other cobrand-focused banks and fintechs cannot match. We’ll use this funding to further build out a world-class team, enabling us to scale both new and existing programmes.”
