SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tillful, the leading business credit platform for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced it is working with Highnote and Mastercard to introduce the Tillful Card, a new, first-of-its-kind business credit card purpose-built for SMB owners to help increase their access to credit and growth capital.
Tillful is the flagship product of Flowcast, the leader in AI credit risk models backed by ING Ventures. Tillful gives Main Street SMBs access to a new kind of business credit score–using real time, alternative transaction data–along with previously unavailable credit-building tools and services, including now the Tillful Card.
Launching in early 2022, the Tillful Card aims to help new and emerging businesses as well as underrepresented owners of small businesses. This historically “credit invisible” segment of SMB borrowers tends to face more challenges to stay in business due to lack of credit history, which decreases their access to credit from lenders. The Tillful Card enables SMB owners to maintain and grow their businesses in several ways:
- Cardholders can immediately begin making business purchases online, in-app and at the point of sale using their virtual card
- Payment history is reported to credit bureaus to help build business credit quicker
- Includes a rewards program tailored to SMB owners
- Business owners can create an unlimited number of virtual cards for their employees as well as to make vendor payments, at no cost
- Option for monthly payments compared to fixed daily or weekly payments
- No minimum bank balance requirements for approval
Highnote will be providing the card issuance infrastructure and program management capabilities as well as supporting embedded banking and payment services, and the Tillful Card features Mastercard as the exclusive card network. Tillful teamed up with Highnote and Mastercard because of their deep industry experience in payments and financial services and their commitment to advancing the SMB segment, in addition to increasing equitable and sustainable financial inclusion.
“Tillful’s core mission is to make the credit ecosystem accessible to the Main Street small businesses who are overlooked for financing opportunities by conventional banks and lenders,” said Ken So, CEO and co-founder of Tillful. “In Highnote and Mastercard, we have technology partners as equally customer-obsessed as we are, that together are building innovative solutions to help SMBs build credit and achieve their full potential.”
“We built Highnote to be a truly modern card issuance platform, one that lets any visionary company, from startup to global enterprise, create, iterate, and scale innovative embedded card issuance experiences to grow customer loyalty, engagement, and revenue,” said John Macllwaine, Highnote’s co-founder and CEO. “Now, in partnership with Tillful, we’re excited to help Main Street SMBs gain access to the credit they need to build tomorrow’s best companies.”
“As the small business segment continues to grow and digitally transform, it is imperative that we provide tools and resources that work harder for them and create an inclusive economy,” said Sherri Haymond, Executive Vice President, Digital Partnerships at Mastercard. “Together with Tillful and Highnote, we are helping small businesses access the credit they need and the digital financial solutions they deserve to build and sustain their operations for the future.”
To learn more and join the Tillful Card waitlist for early access to apply, visit tillful.com/card.
About Tillful
Tillful is a product offered by the same team behind Flowcast, a Series A fintech backed by ING Ventures and Bitrock Capital. Flowcast leverages its patented AI and machine learning (ML) methodologies to create high-performing predictive models for financial institutions that assess risk and enable lenders to automatically optimize credit offerings. Flowcast’s technology has been deployed in partnership with some of the world’s top financial institutions. Tillful leverages this technology and expertise to give SMBs free, real-time access to credit scores, financial assessments, and actionable data to guide decisions about credit and cash flow. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. Learn more at www.tillful.com.
About Highnote
Highnote is the world’s most modern card platform, purpose-built to realize customer loyalty and engagement through embedded card experiences. Its fully integrated tech stack provides everyservice needed for innovative companies to launch new ways to use card payments. Utilizing the developer-friendly Highnote platform, product and engineering teams at digital enterprises of all sizes can easily and efficiently embed virtual and physical payment cards (commercial and consumer prepaid, debit, credit, and charge), ledger, and wallet capabilities into their existing products, creating compelling value for users while growing revenue and building a unique and differentiated brand. The company has raised more than $54 million from leading investors and strategic partners and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit www.highnoteplatform.com.
Media Contact: Jon Keller, jon@propllr.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/08daf415-8190-4892-a4e6-93cbf8d15a24
