CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amount, a banking technology provider offering account opening, loan origination and BNPL financing solutions, announced today the acquisition of Linear Financial Technologies (“Linear”), the premier SMB loan and account origination platform.
Linear’s solution set is complementary to Amount’s retail banking and BNPL solutions for consumer loans. Linear’s platform simplifies the borrowing and account opening experience for small business owners and streamlines loan and deposit origination workflows for a broad range of SMB products, ranging from business credit cards, loans, lines of credit and SBA loans. The company 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.
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.
“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,” said Adam Hughes, CEO of Amount. “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.”
“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.” said Sam Graziano, CEO of Linear. “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 nearly 600 employees, and will operate offices in New York City, NY; Reston, VA; Chicago, IL; and Los Angeles, CA. The combined company 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.
The acquisition for Amount comes on the heels of a few major announcements in 2021 as it pursues an aggressive growth strategy for 2022 and beyond. In October, Amount announced a partnership with Marqeta to launch the first virtual card and loan origination partnership to help banks rapidly enter the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space. In May, the company announced a Series D funding round of nearly $100M that put its post-money valuation in excess of $1 billion. And in April, Barclays announced that Amount would be powering the bank’s BNPL offering, becoming one of the first major U.S. banks to offer point-of-sale (POS) financing installment options.
About Amount
Amount helps financial institutions make banking simpler, safer and more convenient with a full suite of end-to-end omnichannel consumer, small business and BNPL solutions. Developed by lending industry experts, Amount’s fully integrated and flexible platform is underpinned by enterprise bank-grade infrastructure and compliance, enabling banks to securely power new and differentiated offerings within months — not years. With Amount, banks can optimize performance across product categories while tapping into various service offerings including customer acquisition, funnel and performance assessments, and risk analytics. Amount clients include financial institutions collectively managing just over $3.1T in US assets and servicing more than 50 million U.S. customers. Visit www.amount.com for more information.
About Linear Financial Technologies
Formed in February 2021 through the combination of leading fintech companies ODX and Fundation, Linear Financial Technologies (“Linear”) is the leading digital account origination and insights platform serving the business banking and adjacent markets. Linear simplifies the borrowing and account opening experience for customers and streamlines loan and deposit origination workflows, empowering digital transformation. Embedded in the solution is a decade of insights, accompanied by the power of AI/ML technologies to enable clients to make intelligent business decisions. An integrated credit offering also facilitates lending to support “second look” programs, embedded credit, and point of sale financing. The company serves a wide range of industry verticals such as financial institutions, B2B vendors, and SMB service providers through the brand names Linear, Fundation and Kinnek. For more information, please visit: www.linearft.com
