UK fintech firm Curve raises $95 million for US expansion

Unlike digital challenger banks which offer checking accounts via an app, Curve combines all of a customer’s debit and credit cards into one platform and a linked “smart” card

British financial technology firm Curve announced Tuesday that it’s raised $95 million to fuel an expansion into the United States.

Founded in 2015, Curve is among a flood of upstarts in Europe that have gained a following among mainly younger consumers in the last few years thanks to their online-only banking services.

Unlike digital challenger banks such as Revolut and Monzo, which offer checking accounts via an app, Curve combines all of a customer’s debit and credit cards into one platform and a linked “smart” card they can use for payments. The firm’s app has a feature called “Go Back in Time” that lets users change the account they paid with after making a transaction.

Curve’s latest funding round, its Series C, was led by IDC Ventures, Fuel Ventures and Vulcan Capital, the investment house of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. American lender OneMain Financial and Novum Capital also invested.

Last year was a tumultuous time for some fintech firms. Monzo, for example, warned that disruption from the Covid-19 crisis had led to “significant doubt” about its ability to continue “as a going concern.” Many fintechs are now under pressure to show they can become profitable, and some experts think the sector could be ripe for consolidation.

Curve was also hit last year by the fallout from the collapse of disgraced German payment company Wirecard. Curve customers were briefly unable to access their accounts in June after Britain’s financial watchdog froze Wirecard’s operations. The company had to shift its payments processing from Wirecard to rival firm Checkout.com.

Curve said it would use the fresh cash to roll out its service in the U.S., following in the footsteps of several European neobanks, including N26, Monzo and Revolut that have attempted to take on America to varying degrees of success. Over 8,000 Americans have signed up to a waitlist for Curve’s U.S. launch so far.