Amount, a spin-off from online lender Avant, has raised an $81 million Series C funding round led by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). This is an interesting investment for Goldman because they are looking to leverage Marcus to provide digital banking services to erstwhile competitors.
Other investors include August Capital, Invus Opportunities, Hanaco Ventures, and several insiders. Fintech investment bank FT Partners advised on the transaction. Earlier this year, Amount raised a Series B funding led by Nigel Morris and QED Investors so the total raised for 2020 now stands at a solid $140 million.
Amount is a Fintech that provides a suite of digital services for financial firms such as online lending including BNPL services.
In a blog post, former Avant executive and current Amount CEO Adam Hughes stated:
“I could not be more thrilled to welcome such esteemed investors who will continue to support our mission to empower the future of modern banking. We’re thrilled to be backed by these highly-regarded investors as we push to deliver world-class solutions to financial institutions and channel partners, enabling them to compete at the highest level in an ever-changing market. We expect that the demand for Amount’s technology will grow in 2021, as financial institutions continue to modernize and adjust to a consumer trend that prioritizes a digital-first, contactless environment in banking and e-commerce, which is being accelerated by COVID-19.”
Amount joins a battalion of Fintechs that have benefited from the ongoing health crisis that has accelerated the digital transformation of financial services. Because Amount can help an incumbent financial service, like a traditional bank, go digital really fast, the company’s services have experienced heightened demand.
By investing in a solid tech stack, Amount can now quickly scale to provide solutions that cost considerably less than building services in house.
Hughes explains that banks are challenged with the digital side of the business, as well as a lack of experience in battling the digital fraudsters. By enlisting Amount, a bank can provide digital service that is combat ready to tackle cyber risks.
Amount counts some pretty big names as customers including TD Bank, HSBC, BBVA and Regions Bank. The additional capital is expected to help them scale further while adding new services for their customers.
Hughes says their roadmap includes “enhancements to our fraud and verification modules and optimizing our white-labeled personal loan, credit card, deposit, and BNPL capabilities to ensure our partners always have the best-in-class products for their consumers and merchant partners.” Amount is the prototypical Fintech that is helping old finance survive and, perhaps, thrive.
Hughes explained:
“We’ll be announcing new partnerships with several major banks in 2021, all of which are designed to help them create efficiencies and offer more seamless omnichannel products to their consumers. Through it all, we will keep our partners and their customers first, centering our products around world-class user experiences, while empowering banks and financial institutions to compete—and win—against the challengers.”