Just three months after announcing its $55 million Series C, credit card startup Petal has raised $126.6 million in debt facility backed by Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital. The round was announced via Crunchbase News, and brings the five-year-old company’s total debt raised to more than $440 million, according to Petal’s co-founder and CEO Jason Gross.
“We recently reached a milestone of 100,000 approved cardholders,” Gross told Crunchbase News. “This funding allows us to continue that growth, but, more significantly, this is the first depository financial institution for Petal cards. We are not just providing a typical credit card, but pioneering a whole new way of looking at credit risk.”
Unlike more traditional credit card providers, Petal doesn’t rely on users’ credit scores to establish their eligibility. Rather, it looks at metrics like income, savings, banking history and spending habits. This is intended to make credit more accessible to more people, and help the company to tailor its offerings to each individual user’s unique needs.
Upon approval, users get access to Petal’s various tech-enabled financial planning tools, as well as one of two Petal credit cards. The first is for people who already have a credit history and simply want to improve it, the second is designed to help someone build credit, offering a no-fee card that provides cash back and higher spending limits.
The company also runs various promotions to help users make smarter financial decisions. For instance, last month it offered customers a chance to win $500 if they paid more than their minimum credit card balance.
Petal isn’t the only fintech startup attempting to disrupt this space. Earlier this month a new personal finance app called Charlie launched, borrowing aspects of gamification and psychology to help users get out of debt faster. Other companies including SeedFi and Stash have caught investors’ attention with their unique approaches to fostering fiscal responsibility, raising tens of millions of dollars in just the last couple of weeks.
As for Petal, the NYC-based company plans to use this latest raise to grow its platform and user base. It is also hiring, with more than a dozen open tech positions available now.
_1.jpg)
.jpg){kind=spacer}
