The Curve super card wants to impose its fractional payment offer in the US and Europe

Launched in 2018, Curve has raised more than $180 million in equity investments, including crowdfunding campaigns, and has about 4 million customers worldwide. It recently received $1 billion in funding from Credit Suisse to enter the US and European markets with its Curve Flex offering.

FACTS

• Curve is a digital wallet that connects all accounts to a single application and a single card. Specifically, it offers a configurable card that aggregates all existing bank cards.

• Curve also offers Curve Flex, which allows customers to split all their transactions regardless of the card they use.

• Curve has secured a USD 1 billion credit line from Credit Suisse Group to expand its lending operations in the UK, US and European markets.

• In the UK, Curve Flex has launched a product called SNPL, 'Swipe Now to Pay Later'. This allows customers to split all Curve card transactions into three, six, nine or 12 monthly payments.

CHALLENGES

• Product development and international expansion: this round will allow the start-up to expand into the EU and US markets and promote new offerings, including a loan offering.

• More flexible cash flow budgeting: This feature, called Flex, allows customers to better manage their different payment methods and is often used to pay off credit card balances, for example. These are all options that give its holders more flexibility.

• A new BNPL solution: In 2023, the company plans to launch a new Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) product for its customers.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Curve offers many new features in addition to the Flex product, such as the ability to 'turn back time' to transfer past purchases between accounts and/or cards. A loyalty offer also allows customers to "double up" on rewards (offering an additional 10% cashback on Curve purchases in addition to payment card rewards programmes).

• Curve stands out among the newcomers to everyday banking with a "meta-banking card" or "supercard" model. In France, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa's neo-bank Aumax pour moi was operating in the same market niche, but will close on 22 January 2023.