Petal, a new kind of credit card company created to help people build credit and spend responsibly, today announced that it has closed a new committed debt facility –totaling more than $125 million– that will enable the company to expand and support the fast-growing Petal credit card program.
Petal credit cards are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC.
This new facility includes $100 million from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative companies and investors, and $26.6 million from Trinity Capital Inc. (Trinity Capital), a leading provider of venture debt and equipment financing to growth-stage companies.
This is Petal’s first asset-backed facility with SVB and Trinity Capital, complementing Petal’s existing $300 million facility with global investment bank Jefferies. In total, Petal has now closed more than $440 million in debt and raised more than $100 million in equity financing.
“Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital are ideal partners who share Petal’s vision for using technology to expand access to safe and affordable credit,” said Andrew Endicott, Petal’s chief financial officer and co-founder. “We look forward to working together to make that vision a reality for even more Americans.”
To date, more than 100,000 people have been approved for the Petal 1 and Petal 2 Visa® cards. Approximately 70% of those consumers had a thin credit history or no credit history at the time their cards were approved. Petal has helped many of these customers establish a credit score for the first time; people who join Petal with no previous history have an average credit score of 678 after two months.
“We are excited to expand our relationships with both SVB and Trinity through a truly innovative capital solution that will bolster Petal’s balance sheet and enable us to pursue our ambitious goals for 2021 and beyond,” said Nate Huebscher, Petal’s vice-president of capital markets. “The closing of the transaction, structured during the height of COVID, represents a critical milestone for Petal in our efforts to expand credit access.”
“SVB is proud to support the Petal team with this warehouse facility as they strive to enable individuals to access and build credit responsibly,” said Brian Foley, Managing Director of Warehouse Lending at Silicon Valley Bank. “Reaching 100,000 cards approved is a significant growth milestone and we look forward to continuing to work with Petal as the company matures to the next phase of growth.”
“Petal has achieved incredible growth in just a few years since their launch,” said Kyle Brown, President & CIO, Trinity Capital. “We’re thrilled to partner with the teams at Petal and SVB to provide this warehouse financing facility as the company continues to scale rapidly.”
The Petal credit card program now includes two Visa cards:
Petal 1, introduced in October, is designed to help consumers who already have a credit history and want to improve their credit responsibly and affordably.
Petal 2 helps people build credit by providing access to a no-fee credit card with cash back and higher limits that people can qualify for even if they’ve never used credit before. Petal 2 offers lower rates, compared to similar cards in the market.
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