Deserve, a provider of white-label mobile-centric API and (software development kit) SDK-based credit card tech, has secured $50 million in capital through a Series D round that was led by Mastercard.
Mission Holdings and Ally Ventures also co-led Deserve’s latest investment round, along with contributions from existing investors Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Sallie Mae.
Deserve’s management noted that the proceeds will be directed towards supporting the company’s mission or goal to streamline the credit card stack, while enabling the industry to launch and scale programs quickly by leveraging the latest APIs.
Deserve’s user experience includes instant issuance and wallet provisioning that leverages Mastercard technology to support higher activation, usage and engagement. Deep machine learning and AI aim to lower or reduce churn while enhancing profitability for issuing partners.
Sallie Mae, BlockFi, OppFi, Seneca Women, Notre Dame cards are notably among the firm’s customers.
Kalpesh Kapadia, CEO at Deserve, stated:
“We have rebuilt the consumer’s entire credit card experience from the ground up, transforming the plastic credit card into software that delivers a superior digital experience and forever changes how we use credit cards to make payments, earn rewards and borrow money.”
As reported in November 2019, California-based Deserve, a Fintech firm that provides fair credit products for young consumers and a Cloud-based credit card platform for companies, raised $50 million through a funding round led by Goldman Sachs.
Deserve’s investment round in late 2019 also included contributions from the company’s existing investors: Accel, Aspect Ventures, Pelion Venture Partners, Mission Holdings, and Sallie Mae.
Deserve’s management noted in 2019 that it will use the additional funding to further develop its card-as-a-service solution. The company had also committed to hiring new talent including product engineers and research scientists in order to develop its platform’s infrastructure, tools, machine learning functionality, APIs, while expanding its B2B sales and marketing unit.
Ashwin Gupta, MD at Goldman Sachs, stated (in November 2019):
“Goldman Sachs is supportive of Deserve’s mission to expand access to credit, and to simplify the ability for organisations to offer their own bespoke credit card products. We believe Deserve’s card platform will bring meaningful savings and new opportunities to institutions across a range of verticals.”
As covered in April 2021, Opportunity Financial, LLC, a U.S.-based fintech platform that powers banks to help the everyday consumer gain access to credit, announced that it had joined forces with Mastercard, First Electronic Bank and Deserve to launch OppFi Card, which is a new mobile-first credit card designed to expand credit to millions of consumers who are locked out of mainstream financial products.
