Banking technology firm Amount has raised $30 million to expand into the credit union sector.
Amount announced the $30 million equity capital raise in a Thursday (Aug. 15) press release that also welcomed Curql, a collective of credit unions jointly investing in FinTech companies, as a new strategic investor.
“Amount has long recognized the unique opportunity credit unions have to better serve their members via digital channels for efficient origination of credit products and deposit accounts,” Adam Hughes, CEO of Amount, said in the release.
“Amount has historically had tremendous success working with larger enterprise banks, and now this funding round positions our company to add tremendous value to thousands of credit unions, strengthening the relationships with their members.”
The company says the investment aligns with Amount’s goal of further expansion into the U.S. credit union (CU) space. The company plans to use the new funding to enhance its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities.
Amount has since 2022 partnered with the largest credit union service organization in the country, Velera (formerly PSCU), to provide digital credit card origination solutions for its customers. The two entities joined forces earlier this year to launch a digital lending suite known as Origination Solutions.
“Today’s consumers expect immediacy and a frictionless experience, especially around less complex and higher frequency products,” Velera said at the time. “Yet digital account opening and credit card loan origination are both currently associated with a number of challenges, including a lack of automation, fraud, integration obstacles and outdated technology.”
In other credit union news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week about the battle between credit unions and Big Tech “for the hearts, minds and wallet share of consumers.”
Research by PYMNTS Intelligence — conducted with Velera — found that even among top-performing CUs, which have relatively high scores on membership satisfaction, 56% see Big Tech firms as key competitors. In all, 28% of credit unions said they compete with Big Tech.
“There are, of course, signs that the competitive landscape will only get more competitive,” PYMNTS wrote. “As has been seen through the past several months, and as noted here, last year the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sought to extend the same supervision to Big Tech firms that already is in place for banks and credit unions.”
This supervision would apply to companies that experience volumes of more than 5 million transactions annually, a figure that covers Big Tech firms like Apple and Amazon.
