Deserve Raises $50 Million Series D to Drive Credit Card Transformation From Plastic to Software Platform for Payments, Rewards and Lending

Mastercard, Ally Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Sallie Mae, Mission Holdings and other existing investors participate in Funding Round

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Deserve, a fintech company transforming credit cards into a software that lives on mobile, announced today it has raised a $50 million Series D funding round led by Mission Holdings, Mastercard and Ally Ventures with participation from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Sallie Mae and other existing investors.

“This investment validates the industry’s embrace of a digital-first approach,” said Kalpesh Kapadia, Deserve CEO and Co-Founder. “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.”

The funding will be instrumental in accelerating Deserve’s mission to modernize the credit card stack, and enable the industry to launch and scale credit card programs quickly via modern APIs. Deserve’s enhanced underwriting provides flexibility to partners that extends beyond FICO scores and leverages income and employment data to improve approval rates and credit performance.

Deserve’s state-of-the-art user experience includes instant issuance and wallet provisioning leveraging Mastercard technology to drive higher activation, usage and engagement. Deserve’s application of deep machine learning and AI across the cardholder lifecycle helps reduce churn while maximizing profitability for issuing partners.

Deserve also takes a tech first approach to its 24/7 omnichannel customer support to provide “single call resolution” to customer queries leading to high NPS scores and reduced delinquencies, disputes and chargebacks. The Deserve platform embraces industry leading compliance and infosec best practices to provide peace of mind to its partners. Deserve’s core services are modular in nature and are API and SDK enabled so they can be deeply embedded in a partner's own core experience. The suite of powerful services is augmented by first-rate business analytics tools for portfolio management and much more.

Deserve is the first credit card-as-a-service software platform to leverage Mastercard’s Digital First Program for instant issuance/provisioning for credit with uncompromising security and provides a seamless digital experience. Deserve has reimagined the credit card application process with a Mobile-First approach allowing consumers to apply, activate and provision their card in digital wallets within minutes.

The Mobile-First platform will power mobile cards for major banks and FIs, Fintechs, Digital native co-brand partners and affinity groups to offer innovative and differentiated rewards beyond simple cashback, points and miles. For example, Deserve’s new partner BlockFi offers rewards in cryptocurrency and Seneca Women is rewarding consumers for supporting women owned businesses.

Sallie Mae, BlockFi, OppFi, Seneca Women, Notre Dame cards, and many more are leveraging Deserve’s modern platform to offer an embedded and seamless credit card experience to customers and members.

Transforming traditional credit cards into software creates a modern platform that will allow Deserve to deliver additional lending products that might include Buy Now Pay Later, installment loans, and even payroll advance.

“With its Digital First Card, Deserve is leading the modernization of the credit card from a piece of plastic to a powerful software that will drive the digital transformation of the industry and we are thrilled to partner with Deserve to make it possible,” said Saurabh Mittal, Chairman of Mission Holdings.

About Deserve

Deserve is powering the future of fintech through digital-first, mobile-centric, highly configurable API and SDK based credit card solutions. Using machine learning and alternative data, Deserve provides partners with state of the art underwriting solutions that expand financial access. Deserve partners with financial institutions, fintechs, and modern consumer brands, universities and associations to develop, rapidly deploy and power white label and co-branded credit card programs. Deserve is a venture-backed fintech company whose investors include Mastercard, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Sallie Mae, Ally Ventures, Accel, Pelion Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, and Mission Holdings. Connect with Deserve on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter or visit http://www.deservecards.com and http://www.deserve.com for more information.