• Open banking expert Yapily and B2B BNPL player Two have paired up.
• Norway-based Two will leverage Yapily data, eliminating the need for businesses to fill out forms when paying with BNPL.
• “With Yapily and open banking, we can provide a safer, cheaper, and easier financial bridge for businesses that are ready to move forward,” said Two Head of Product Deane Barton.

Yapily, a fintech that seeks to help businesses enhance their offering by embedding open banking into their products and services, announced its newest plan to help small businesses succeed.

The U.K.-based company is joining forces with Norwegian BNPL player Two to fuel data for Two’s B2B BNPL tool. “We’re working with Two to ease the cash flow burden for SMEs by offering alternative ways to access credit with BNPL and open banking,” Yapily said in a blog post.

Small businesses making online purchases can use Two at checkout to pay 14 to 90 days after they make their purchase. To make the process easy on the business client, Two leverages Yapily data to retrieve the buyer’s account information, including their name and date of birth, to verify their identity and approve the purchase. Not only does it take place in real time, but the data integration also eliminates the need for businesses to fill out multiple forms.

“With Yapily and open banking, we can provide a safer, cheaper, and easier financial bridge for businesses that are ready to move forward,” said Two Head of Product Deane Barton. “The intersection between BNPL and open banking is an exciting place to be. Together, we are shaping the future of financial services as we know it.”

The small business BNPL technology serves as an alternative to a working capital loan for the business client. The tool also has the potential to benefit the merchant. According to Two, e-commerce platforms that offer Two as a payment method can see up to a 60% increase in average order value and a 20% rise in the percentage of site visitors that make a purchase.

Yapily has raised $18.4 million since it was founded in 2017. The company enables its clients to access data in 15 countries across Europe, and at more than 180 financial institutions. Stefano Vaccino is founder and CEO.

Through today’s partnership, Yapily’s open banking capabilities will initially be rolled out to Two customers across the U.K., with more European markets to follow. Two has raised $3 million since it was founded in 2020.

Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

• Unit received $100 million in Series C funding this week.
• The funding boosts the company’s total investment to $170 million and brings its valuation to $1.2 billion.
• The company, which will unveil its business credit card in the next few months, will use the investment to accelerate its product development and expand into credit offerings.

Banking-as-a-Service company Unit has reached unicorn status this week after a $100 million Series C round. The investment brings the California-based company’s valuation to $1.2 billion and boosts its total funding to $170 million.

Insight Partners led today’s round and existing investors Accel, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Flourish Ventures also contributed, along with new investors Moving Capital and Stepstone.

“Unit has established itself as the leader in the banking-as-a-service space, backed by the overwhelming positive customer feedback and traction they have shown over the last year,” said Insight Partners Co-Founder and Managing Director Jeff Horing. “The company has been able to onboard high-growth tech companies of all sizes, from startups to publicly listed enterprises, with their superior technology, speed, and reliability. We are bullish on the future of embedded finance and see Unit as the platform of choice for companies big and small.”

Unit was founded in 2019 to help companies build banking products such as bank accounts, cards, payment products, and lending tools into their existing offering. The company will use today’s funding to accelerate product development and expand into credit offerings. Unit will launch its first business credit card product in the next few months and aims to add more credit products in the future.

“Credit is the clear next step of growth and we believe it will be the most important wave in financial services in the coming years,” said Unit CEO and Co-Founder Itai Damti. “With this new round of funding, Unit will be able to empower the companies best suited to offer credit with the technology and infrastructure to make that a reality.”

Unit has experienced impressive growth over the past year, riding the banking-as-a-service wave that has been sweeping fintech. The company added more than 140 customers over the past year and, over the last six months, Unit’s transaction value has grown 7x to $2.6 billion. Among the company’s clients are AngelList, HoneyBook, Homebase, Veryable, Roofstock, Hearth, and Benepass.

Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash

• Challenger bank Greenlight launched a credit card, the Family Cash Card.
• The card offers up to 3% cash back and allows users to automatically invest the rewards into a mutual funds or ETFs.
• This is Greenlight’s first credit card and first product marketed to parents.

Family-focused fintech Greenlight revealed plans this week to launch a credit card called the Family Cash Card. This is the Georgia-based company’s first credit card as well as its first card marketed at parents.

Launching in partnership with Mastercard and issued by First National Bank of Omaha, the credit card offers up to 3% cash back when users spend more than $4,000 per month. While parents can opt to have the rewards deposited into their bank account, they can also automatically invest their rewards into a set of recommended mutual funds and ETFs. If they want more options, users can invest the rewards via the Greenlight app.

“Families today have an increasing amount of expenses, making it difficult for many to save for the long-term,” said Greenlight Co-founder and CEO Tim Sheehan. “At Greenlight, we’re focused on helping families build healthy financial futures. With the new Family Cash Card, parents can get the most out of everyday spending and invest towards big life events like their children’s college education.”

Sheehan told TechCrunch that, while Greenlight liked the idea of the rewards accruing into a 529 plan that would help parents pay for their childrens’ education, the company decided that more users would appreciate traditional investment vehicles. “We looked at the 529, and we just decided, after talking to really a lot of parents, that they basically valued flexibility over the small tax benefit of the 529. Essentially, they said, I would rather have the flexibility and not be penalized to use the money for anything my family needs,” said Sheehan.

Founded in 2014, Greenlight offers a money management platform for families that helps five million parents and kids gain skills to manage their earnings, savings, spending, giving, and learn to invest via a debit card, companion app, and educational resources. Last April, the company raised $260 million in a round that valued the company at $2.3 billion.

Photo by Neenu Vimalkumar on Unsplash