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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Tradeshift is partnering with HSBC to develop embedded finance solutions.
As part of the partnership, HSBC is contributing $35 million to Tradeshift’s $70 million funding round announced today.
There is limited information about the details of the new joint venture between the two parties, but the announcement said more information will be unveiled ahead of the planned launch slated for early 2024.
Supply chain procurements and payments company Tradeshift is teaming up with HSBC to launch a new business. The jointly-owned business endeavor will focus on developing embedded finance solutions and financial services applications.
As part of the partnership, HSBC is investing $35 million in Tradeshift as part of a round that is expected to close at around $70 million. Existing investors AYTK Limited, LUN Partners Group, Fuel Venture Capital, Doha Venture Capital LLC, Notion Capital, IDC Ventures and The Private Shares Fund contributed to the round.
The round will add to the more than $1.1 billion in funding Tradeshift has amassed since it was founded in 2009.
Details about the new joint venture between Tradeshift and HSBC are sparse. The announcement states that the two will “deploy a range of digital solutions across Tradeshift and other platforms” that will include embedded finance tools for trade, e-commerce, and marketplaces. The new business will enable Tradeshift to globally scale its business commerce network that currently sits at one million users.
Tradeshift expects that the HSBC brand will “bring instant credibility and broad appeal” to the new financial solutions. HSBC currently facilitates more than $800 billion in trade each year.
“The world’s biggest trade bank and the world’s largest trade network are joining forces,” said Tradeshift CEO and Co-founder Christian Lanng. “Our deepening partnership with HSBC delivers a strong foundation from which to scale and accelerate our vision of a trade network that creates economic opportunity for businesses everywhere.”
The two will announce more details about the joint venture ahead of its launch, which is expected in early 2024.
“We are very excited to partner with Tradeshift to help businesses and their suppliers trade more smoothly using world-class technology and solutions that the joint venture will deliver,” said HSBC CEO of Global Commercial Banking Barry O’Byrne.
Maine-based Machias Savings Bank has partnered with Jack Henry to modernize its technology stack.
Founded in 1869, Machias Savings Bank has $2.4 billion in assets.
Jack Henry has been a Finovate alum since 2010. Newsweek named the company as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces in 2023.
One of the oldest banks in Maine, Machias Savings Bank, has turned to Jack Henry to modernize its technology stack. The financial institution will deploy Jack Henry’s core processing solution to help automate processes and improve efficiency. Machias Savings Bank also will take advantage of business process solutions like Jack Henry’s Enterprise Workflow, as well as access more than 950 API-integrated, third-party fintechs that are a part of Jack Henry’s ecosystem.
“Jack Henry’s innovative mindset positions us well for a technology transformation that will help us stay competitive throughout shifting market and economic conditions,” Machias Savings Bank COO and EVP Peter Greene said. He added that the partnership will help the bank reduce costs while better serving its commercial customers, which have been a special focus for the institution.
“These modernization efforts will help Machias Savings Bank strengthen its connection to a new generation of customers, compete with the big banks, and remain a strong pillar in their community,” Jack Henry SVP and president of Bank Solutions Stacey Zengel added.
A Finovate alum since 2010, Jack Henry serves community and regional financial institutions, providing both internally developed technology solutions as well as integrations with leading fintech innovators. With more than 8,000 clients, the Monett, Missouri-based company offers digital banking, payments, lending, financial crime, and financial health solutions to help banks, credit unions, and other financial services companies innovate faster and compete more effectively against larger rivals in both finance and tech.
Last month, Jack Henry announced its support for the Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service. In June, the company launched its real-time payment fraud feature – Payrailz Fraud Monitor. The technology leverages AI and machine learning to identify and assess multiple fraud indicators to provide actionable scores on each payment transaction. The AI-based offering was made possible by Jack Henry’s acquisition of Payrailz in 2022. In addition to its partnership with Machias Savings Bank, Jack Henry teamed up with Platinum Federal Credit Union in May; First Community Bank, Sunrise Bank, and Today’s Bank in April; and virtual bank Greenpenny in January.
Jack Henry trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker JKHY. The firm has a market capitalization of $12 billion.
Machias Savings Bank was founded in 1869. The institution has $2.4 billion in assets, and 17 branch locations throughout Maine. Larry Baker is president and CEO.
Digital asset tokenization platform DigiShares partnered with digital asset tax, accounting, and data platform Ledgible.
The partnership will ensure greater accuracy and efficiency when assessing taxes for cryptocurrency and tokenized assets.
Founded in 2018, DigiShares made its Finovate debut at our all-digital event, FinovateSpring 2021.
White-label digital asset tokenization platform DigiShares has inked a partnership with digital asset tax, accounting, and data platform Ledgible. The collaboration will give DigiShares issuers, investors, and their accounting teams greater accuracy and efficiency in the challenging area of crypto and tokenized asset taxation.
Specifically, DigiShares will send subscriber investment, trade, and distribution to Ledgible’s Digital Asset Tax and Accounting Platform. Ledgible’s platform then analyzes the economic and ownership activity and normalizes it to enhance CPA-led preparation of Forms 1065 and 1120, Schedule K-1, and other tax returns. The technology assesses digital asset tax liability and provides that data to the customer’s accounting system.
“With the growing adoption of crypto and tokenized assets, tax gain and loss accuracy and efficiency in this new, complex environment is critical for each participant in the tokenized asset ecosystem,” Ledgible CEO Kell Canty said.
Founded in 2018, DigiShares made its Finovate debut at our all-digital event FinovateSpring 2021. The company, headquartered in Denmark, demoed how its technology provides automation and liquidity for real estate via its digital asset tokenization platform. DigiShares digitizes and automates both the processes related to financing of projects as well as ongoing corporate management and ownership. In addition to real estate, use cases for the company’s digitization technology include payments, KYC, e-signing, investor management, and legal processes.
“This collaboration opens new possibilities for our clients in managing digital assets, enabling them to stay compliant and confident in their tax and accounting practices,” DigiShares co-founder and CEO Claus Skaaning said.
2023 has been a busy year of partnerships for DigiShares. This spring, the company announced collaborations with cryptocurrency company TFC Services, Spanish real estate discovery solution Equito App, alternative trading system (ATS) company Oasis Pro Markets, and chartered trust company Fortress Trust. Earlier this month, DigiShares teamed up with Texture Capital to help boost liquidity opportunities for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).
Bluevine launched an accounts payable solution this week.
The new offering will be available within Bluevine’s small business banking suite.
The accounts payable tool will offer businesses tools such as bill capture and storage, approval workflows, payment scheduling, and automatic accounting reconciliation.
Small business banking innovator Bluevine is enhancing its platform this week by launching a new accounts payable (AP) offering within its small business banking suite.
Including the new AP tool will help business owners manage payments within their Bluevine Business Checking accounts. Tools such as bill capture and storage, approval workflows, payment scheduling, automatic accounting reconciliation, and user provisioning and management will help businesses automate their AP processes.
“As small businesses scale, often they face more complexity in managing their operations,” said Bluevine SVP, GM of Banking Charles Amadon. “Our accounts payable solution is purpose-built to strike a balance between providing a robust set of AP automation tools, with the ease-of-use that our customers have come to expect from Bluevine.”
The AP feature builds out Bluevine’s current small business banking platform, which the company launched in 2019 to help small businesses manage their finances, deposit checks, transfer funds, and pay invoices. Bluevine has unveiled a series of enhancements to its business banking platform in recent years, including the launch of billpay in 2022, and international payments capabilities earlier this year.
“Every decision we make has the SMB at the heart of it, starting with the essential question – will this help them grow and run their business easier? Based on customer feedback we knew AP automation was something they wanted and needed. Putting all that power right into their checking account dashboard is an exciting step forward, and further differentiates Bluevine Business Checking with even more added value,” added Amadon.
Bluevine launched in 2013 to serve as an alternative lending provider for small businesses. Since then, the California-based company’s tools have reached 500,000 entrepreneurs. Bluevine has raised just shy of $770 million from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, ION Crossover Partners, SVB Capital, Nationwide Insurance, and M12. Eyal Lifshitz is CEO.
Disability Pride Month is coming to a close. The annual July commemoration is an opportunity to honor the experience and achievement of those in the disability community. The month of July is special because President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990. The landmark legislation was the first comprehensive law enshrining the civil rights of people with disabilities.
Today we take a look at just a handful of ways financial technology and the financial services community is helping support people with disabilities, whether those challenges are physical or cognitive, transitive or enduring.
There are some who bristle at the euphemism “differently abled.” But the idea of leveraging one ability to make up for another is at the heart of inclusion when it comes to people with disabilities. This is true when we are talking about technologies that enhance the power of hearing or touch for those with visual challenges. It is also true when we talk about a digital banking world that ultimately makes banking services more accessible to all – including those who cannot easily travel.
At the same time, greater awareness of the challenges faced by those with physical and cognitive challenges also means understanding the limits of technology. A pilot project in 2010 that explored disability inclusion in microfinancing institutions in Africa produced what one observer called “several clear conclusions from this pilot worth repeating because they are likely to have near universal application for MFIs entering this market.” The recommendations?
Don’t develop special credit products. Don’t give special conditions. Don’t get disappointed too soon. Identity existing clients with disabilities. Learn from them and use them in promotional efforts and in reaching out to new clients. Join efforts with local disability organization. Improve the physical accessibility of the premises.
A sizable number of government organizations and non-profit entities exist to help support people with disabilities secure employment, housing opportunities, as well as economic and health benefits. In many instances, non-profits have benefited from partnerships with financial institutions. This includes the partnership between JP Morgan Chase and the National Disability Institute. The bank, for example, is backing the NDI’s effort to inform and educate low- and moderate-income individuals with disabilities about the resources available to them under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
The partnership between NDI and JP Morgan has produced some interesting insights into the challenges of small business owners with disabilities, as well. The report, Small Business Ownership by People with Disabilities: Challenges and Opportunities, makes a number of important points – foremost among them that entrepreneurialism is often a major employment choice for people with disabilities. The reasons for this vary from preferring a more flexible work schedule to previous experiences with discrimination or a hostile work environment to a lack of advancement opportunities. Importantly for people in financial services and fintech, the report noted that smaller, disability-owned businesses often avoid traditional financial channels and struggle to secure financing.
The causes for this aversion include concerns about using personal assets as collateral, a lack of assets, or benefit-related issues – such as a fear of losing social security benefits if their countable assets climb too high. Helpfully, the report provides a number of recommendations to help banks and fintechs better serve disability-owned businesses. These suggestions include greater investment in CRA funds for small businesses to more support of policies that would boost business opportunities, access to capital, and better coordinate of public resources.
Sometimes helping people with disabilities means helping people who help those with disabilities. According to data from co-parenting solution provider SupportPay, 38 million people are taking care of loved ones in 2023. To this end we share news that SupportPay has unveiled a new app designed to make it easier for caretakers to share, manage, and track expenses. The solution also enables caretakers to coordinate schedules and streamline communication. It is expected to be available in the fall of 2023.
Sheri Atwood, SupportPay founder and CEO, highlighted the fintech component of the new offering compared to other solutions on the market. “While several caregiver solutions are entering the market, none are focused on reducing the stress of managing expenses between multiple caregivers,” Atwood explained. “Our solution is built to solve this pain point by simplifying and streamlining this process.”
More than 65,000 parents are using SupportPay to manage more than $450 million in expenses and payments. In addition to helping caregivers share, organize, and track expenses and schedules, the new offering also helps caregivers review and resolve disputes as well as maintain certified records of expenses and payment histories. These can be especially helpful for tax purposes or addressing legal issues that arise.
“We knew our platform could be of assistance to all family members, including the staggering number of caregivers,” Atwood said. “From our co-parenting solution, we know that when people share financial responsibilities – whether it’s with an ex, a sibling, or another family member – the process can be much more time-consuming, conflict-ridden, and stressful.”
Founded in 2018, SupportPay is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company has raised $6.8 million in funding. SupportPay’s investors include LAUNCH and The Syndicate.
SuperFi received $1 million in pre-seed funding for its debt management and repayment platform.
The round saw contributions from Ascension, Fair By Design, Force Over Mass, and includes a grant from the Greater London Authority.
SuperFi’s debt management app will be publicly available in late 2023.
Personalized debt support platform SuperFi has landed $1 million in pre-seed funding for its platform that helps users understand, manage, and pay off their debt. The round brings the company’s total funding to $1.2 million.
The investment was led by Ascension and its impact fund, Fair By Design, and saw contributions from Force Over Mass and others. Also included in the investment amount is a grant from the Greater London Authority. SuperFi received the grant funds as part of the Mayor of London’s Challenge LDN scheme to combat poverty.
U.K.-based SuperFi was founded in 2021 with a goal to support the 18 million British adults struggling to pay their monthly bills during the cost of living crisis. To accomplish this, the company shows users an overview of their debts, analyzes their financial and personal circumstances, and offers them access to debt prevention tools and services.
“We believe that debt management should be proactive, not reactive. Our goal is to help millions of people struggling to pay their bills and credit commitments better manage their debt before it becomes a crisis,” said SuperFi Cofounder Tom Barltrop. “In doing so, we believe we can help British people during the cost of living crisis – saving businesses and society billions associated with problem debt.”
Today’s funding will help SuperFi test its platform with Councils and Housing Associations across London before the company rolls the product out to a wider U.K. audience. The investment will also be used to form partnerships with London boroughs.
SuperFi plans to make its app publicly available in late 2023.
When we think of fintech in Asia, China often comes quickly to mind, as do Singapore, Hong Kong, and a few other places. But Japan? Not so much.
Why is this so? One of the more interesting reads on the topic of fintech in Japan that I’ve come across is a Deloitte study Japanese Fintech in the Global Context. In the report, Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting Social Impact Director Yasuyuki Ogyu explains some of the challenges that prevent Japan from having the sort of fintech industry we see in countries like the U.S. – or neighbor and rival China.
Ogyu notes that Japan has “a favorable B2C market environment.” Unfortunately, the country also has a “rock-solid yet inflexible financial infrastructure.” This has made investors hesitant to commit capital to new financial services businesses for fear that the return of investment would be low and slow compared to other opportunities in the region. Ogyu shows how, in contrast to the U.S., the high level of quality demanded of Japanese IT systems makes them “ill-suited (in terms of speed and cost) to new initiatives like fintech.” Comparisons between API laws in the U.S. and Europe compared to Japan show that there is still a great deal of work to be done educating the public on the value of “services that utilize personal data.”
Check out the full report. Deloitte’s study is an interesting look at the relationship between fintech innovation and the incumbent Japanese financial services industry. The report also provides a handful of recommendations that might help fintechs make greater inroads in the country.
That said, what are some of the more interesting developments on the Japanese fintech scene of late?
Just a few months after securing a deposit-taking license and one month after going live with its mobile app, Japanese digital bank Habitto announced that it surpassed 12,000 downloads. Habitto has also received more than $922,500 (¥130 million) in new deposits over the past month. But the download milestone news almost was overshadowed by a report that the neobank had opened a new office in the fashion district of Cat Street Uruhara.
Habitto co-founder and CEO Samantha Ghiotti explained. “Despite being a mobile-first finance brand, we still believe that it’s essential to connect with customers at ground level and with a human approach,” Ghiotti said. “Trust in financial brands is built over time. We can only achieve this trust through a combination of positive customer experiences both on mobile and face-to-face.”
Ghoitti and Chief Creative Officer Liam McCance founded Habitto in 2021. The Tokyo-based neobank offers an interest rate of 0.3% on deposits up to ¥1 million as well as a Visa debit card. The company’s mobile app includes free financial advice, personalized money plans, and in-app chat and video call services. Habitto has raised a total of $7.3 million in funding from investors including Saison Capital and Cherubic Ventures.
Turning to the B2C end of the country’s fintech sector, we note that Olta, a Japanese fintech that helps SMEs secure funding, has raised $17.8 million in funding. The investment in the Tokyo-based fintech takes the company’s total capital raised to more than $60 million. A sizable number of investors participated in the Series B round. These investors include SBI Investment, Spiral Capital, DG Ventures, WingArc 1st, AG Capital Delight Ventures, Tottori Capital, Nobunaga Capital Village, BIG Impact, and Aozora Corporate Investment.
Olta was founded in 2017. The company provides cloud-based factoring services for the procurement of funds to meet short-term funding needs without resorting to debt. Olta’s role in supporting small businesses during the COVID pandemic was highlighted by Nikkei Asia in the spring of 2020. One meat wholesaler described how he was able to convert several hundred thousand yen in accounts receivable into cash using Olta’s services.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Kenyan telecommunications company Safaricom partnered with U.K.-based TerraPay to launch mobile money transfer service to Bangladesh and Pakistan.
How are community banks keeping pace with rising customer expectations and the demands for greater financial inclusion? What role do fintechs play in helping community banks offer their customers the latest innovative fintech solutions?
I spoke with Charles Potts, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer for the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) to discuss this and other issues, including:
Key challenges faced by community bankers today
New opportunities and customer expectations
The role of partnerships in helping community banks respond to new opportunities
Upgrade is acquiring travel-focused BNPL company Uplift for $100 million.
The company will use the purchase to build on its existing BNPL offerings.
Uplift had raised $700 million and was reportedly valued at $195 million during its 2019 Series C round.
Alternative credit provider and digital bank Upgrade made its first acquisition today. The seven year old fintech announced it has purchased buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Uplift for $100 million.
Uplift was founded in 2014 to serve as a BNPL option for U.S. and Canadian consumers at the point-of-sale when booking travel experiences at 300 major travel brands ranging from airlines to cruise companies to resorts. By selecting Uplift at the point-of-sale when booking their travel online, the company’s 3.3 million users can spread the cost of their purchase across multiple months and repay in fixed installments.
Upgrade offers personal loans and digital banking tools including credit cards, checking accounts, and savings accounts. While it doesn’t offer any BNPL tools, the company says its credit cards “combine the flexibility of a credit card with the predictability of a personal loan.”
Upgrade will use today’s acquisition to build its presence in the BNPL space. The company states that travel financing fits within its strategy of making credit available at the point of sale to finance “meaningful expenses.” Upgrade currently focuses on helping its users finance practical expenses such as buying a car or making home improvements, and –with Uplift’s expertise– will be able to enter the travel vertical, as well.
As Upgrade Cofounder and CEO Renaud Laplanche explained, “The Uplift team has established the company as the leading BNPL provider in the travel industry, and we look forward to combining forces to make travel more accessible and affordable for millions of consumers, and over time implement similar solutions in adjacent parts of our customers’ lives.”
Prior to today’s acquisition, Uplift had raised $700 million in combined debt and equity and was reportedly valued at $195 million during its 2019 Series C round.
Headquartered in California with an operations center in Arizona and a technology center in Canada, Upgrade is partnered with Cross River Bank and Blue Ridge Bank for credit lines and banking services, NYDIG for Bitcoin rewards, and Sutton Bank for card issuance. The company has delivered $24 billion in credit via its cards and loans since 2017.
Core banking provider Tuum and bank orchestration platform Numeral announced a new partnership this week.
The two companies will work together to help financial institutions and fintechs launch and grow across Europe and the U.K.
Paris, France-based Numeral made its Finovate debut this spring at FinovateEurope in London.
A strategic partnership between core banking provider Tuum and bank orchestration platform Numeral is designed to help both financial institutions and fintechs to launch and grow across Europe and the U.K. The combination of Numeral’s bank integrations and Tuum’s modular core banking platform will enable FIs and fintechs to access a variety of European and U.K. payment schemes – including SEPA, Bacs, FPS as indirect participants via integrations with E.U. and U.K. partner banks.
This provides access to partner banks’ local virtual IBANs – or to issuing their own local IBANs. According to research from Numeral, European consumers said they were 83% more likely to use financial services that offered local IBANs instead of foreign ones. The company’s survey also noted that a quarter of respondents said that they had experienced “IBAN discrimination” when using a foreign IBAN. The partnership between Tuum and Numeral, by facilitating local IBANs, will boost consumer trust as well as combat the issue of IBAN discrimination.
In a statement, Numeral CEO Édouard Mandon underscored the importance of scale when it comes to unit economics in fintech and financial services. “Building a pan-European payment infrastructure is critical for financial services and fintech companies to access a broader market, acquire more customers and achieve profitability,” Mandon said. He highlighted the challenge of financial institutions trying to build these solutions internally and pointed to the partnership between Tuum and Numeral as a better way. “Financial services companies should be able to build systems that correspond to their specific needs from readily available building blocks,” Mandon added.
Tuum VP of Global Partnerships Jean Souto shared Mandon’s concern about the challenges FIs face when it comes to allocating scarce resources. “Establishing operations across different countries demands substantial capital and operational expense,” Souto explained. “With Tuum and Numeral’s joint proposition, companies can now harness the power of a modular core banking platform and a pan-European bank orchestration platform.”
Headquartered in Paris, France, Numeral demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope earlier this year. At the conference, the company showed how financial institutions can leverage its technology to automatically send, receive, and reconcile SEPA payments. The company also demoed how its API platform optimizes FI payment operations by automating bank payment processing. The same month that Numeral made its Finovate debut, the firm announced that it was going live in the U.K.
Providing the payment infrastructure for European fintechs such as Swile and Spendesk, Numeral says that it is on pace to process $5.5 billion (€5 billion) in 2023. The company announced in May that it was teaming up with BNP Paribas and European Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) outfit Alma to automate payments to merchants.
Numeral has raised €13 million in funding. The company includes Balderton Capital and Kima Ventures among its investors.
By now you’ve likely heard that the U.S. Federal Reserve launched its FedNow instant payments solution. Using the new tool, banks and credit unions can enable their customers to instantly transfer money at any time of day, any day of the year.
The release comes 10 years after the Fed first started talking about creating a real-time payments (RTP) solution in 2013, and five years after it began developing an RTP offering. The Fed’s instant payments solution also comes after a handful of competing companies in the private sector– including Orum, Visa Direct, and The Clearing House (TCH)— had already launched.
The latter of these– TCH– just released an update that details some of the metrics it has reached in the instant payments realm after launching its RTP network in November of 2017. Here is what the company has achieved in six years:
Increased transaction number
The number of transactions on the RTP network in Q2 2023 totaled 58 million, up from 41 million transactions during that same period last year.
Increased transaction volume
The value of transactions during Q2 2023 reached $29 billion, up from $18 billion in the same quarter last year.
Gained financial institution customers
More than 350 financial institutions are providing real-time payments on the RTP network to their customers and members.
Gained business adoption
150,000 businesses are sending payments over the RTP network. This is a 50% increase since December 2022.
Reached end consumers
3+ million consumers each month are sending account-to-account payments and Zelle payments that leverage the RTP network
Reached demand deposit accounts
The RTP network currently reaches 65% of U.S. demand deposit accounts.
These milestones signify three things. First, they are a reminder to always question claims of “industry firsts.” The launch of FedNow is buzz-worthy because it is a government-led initiative, not because its the first player in the U.S. to enable real-time payments.
Second, TCH’s milestones indicate that consumers are not only conceptually ready for the change, they are open to trusting the process behind the change. “As more banks and credit unions join the RTP network, their customers and members are experiencing the benefits of real-time payments,” said TCH Senior Vice President of RTP Product Management Rusiru Gunasena. “Surpassing 500 million RTP payments signifies the accelerating growth and demand on the RTP network.”
The last thing TCH’s stats demonstrate is that there is still room for a lot of growth in this area. FedNow may not have been the first player to enter the market with an RTP solution, but that’s not to say it won’t be successful. There are currently 57 banks and credit unions planning to participate in FedNow, and Forbes estimates that number will increase to 200 by the end of the year and will reach 500 by the end of next year.
The launch is among 100+ updates the company is making today as part of its summer release.
The new Visa-branded credit card is powered by partnerships with Stripe, which is powering the infrastructure behind the card, and Celtic Bank, which serves as the bank partner.
Shopifyreleased 100 updates today. Out of the updates, the most interesting was the launch of a Visa credit card aimed at U.S. businesses. The card is fueled by partnerships with Stripe, which powers the infrastructure, and Celtic Bank, which serves as the issuing bank.
The card does not charge fees or interest– it is a pay-in-full card that offers business owners up to 56 days to pay for their purchases. After that point, Shopify will automatically debit any outstanding balances from the user’s designated account.
The new credit card offers businesses up to 3% cashback on eligible purchases, which include business expenses in the company’s monthly top spend category— marketing, fulfillment, or wholesale. For all other purchases, cardholders receive 1% cashback. Businesses can receive up to $100,000 in cashback, which is earned as a statement credit.
Eligibility for the credit card is based on a business’ sales performance, not an individual’s credit score. This allows the cardholder’s credit limit to increase as their business scales up.
Shopify has been offering businesses access to working capital with its commercial lending platform, Shopify Capital, since 2016. Underwriting for the loans works in the same way that the company’s credit card underwriting works. The credit offers are based on a business’ sales. In fact, the company uses more than 70 data points about a business applicant to underwrite the loan. Since launch, Shopify has distributed more than $4.5 billion in loans to its business users.
Other financial tools that Shopify offers its business users include Shopify Balance, which is a business financial management tool, and Shopify Bill Pay, a tool to help merchants manage and pay vendors.
Canada-based Shopify has been bringing ecommerce websites and tools to retailers since 2004. In the years since, millions of businesses in 175 countries have used the company’s technology to make over $700 billion in sales. Tobias Lütke is CEO.
