Amount, a banking tech provider offering account opening, loan origination and BNPL financing solutions, recently confirmed the acquisition of Linear Financial Technologies, the SMB loan and account origination platform.
Linear’s solution set is “complementary to Amount’s retail banking and BNPL solutions for consumer loans,” according to a release.
Linear’s platform aims to simplify the borrowing and account opening experience for SMB owners and enhances the loan and deposit origination workflows for a wide range of SMB products, “ranging from business credit cards, loans, lines of credit and SBA loans.”
The firm has an expansive and diverse set of name brand clients, “including Citizens Bank, PNC Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Bank of the West, and American Express, among others.”
As mentioned in the announcement, Linear will rebrand and “operate as Amount Small Business in 2022.” Sam Graziano, CEO of Linear, will “join Amount’s executive team and become Head of Amount Small Business.”
Adam Hughes, CEO of Amount, stated:
“In Linear, we saw an opportunity to pair Amount’s consumer banking solution and buy now, pay later technology with Linear’s small business banking solutions to help financial institutions simplify and streamline business processes to create new business opportunities and increase value for our clients. We admire what Sam and his team have built at Linear, especially as we share many of the same values when it comes to developing technology, with a heavy focus on bringing data and insights to the forefront, to improve customer experiences, business processes and risk management. I’m excited to welcome the Linear team to Amount and look forward to working beside them to expand Amount’s product set.”
Sam Graziano, CEO of Linear, remarked:
“The foundational items necessary for success in SMB lending are akin to those in consumer lending – namely modern digital customer experiences, data aggregation, process automation and risk-based analytics. That is why the synergy potential from joining forces with Amount was obvious to us given their unmatched expertise and reputation in the consumer lending space. We are also seeing a desire for our bank clients to simplify their vendor portfolios and build deeper relationships with the ones they trust. So there is a huge opportunity for both Linear and Amount to deepen our existing relationships while also going to the market with a more diverse set of solutions.”
Post transaction, Amount’s headcount will total almost 600 workers, and will operate offices in New York City, NY; Reston, VA; Chicago, IL; and Los Angeles, CA.
The combined business entity “expects to expand its capabilities within its retail banking suite, B2C and B2B point of sale solutions, fraud detection solutions and embedded finance, among other things.”
For more details on this update, check here.