For fintech app developers, integrating repayment, balance transfer, and bill payment functionality can be difficult. Developers often have to deal with a patchwork of vulnerable screen scraping APIs to extract data from users' financial institutions. To make matters worse, you also have to deal with tools to process piles of checks and documents.
Three friends and entrepreneurs Jose Besancourt, Marco del Carmen, and Mitt Shah told TechCrunch that inhibitors can be deal-breakers, especially for small fintech teams. spoke. In an effort to overcome those and help others do the same, the trio launched Method, a platform that powers debt and debt repayment capabilities with fintech applications.
“Jose and Marco experienced the challenges of connecting financial accounts first-hand when they founded their first company, GradJoy, a Y Combinator-backed startup,” Shah told TechCrunch. “GradJoy aimed to simplify student loan management, but Jose and Marco quickly realized the limitations of their existing account connection system.”
This method works by leveraging the consumer credit access protections enacted into law as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Method uses identity verification data from credit bureaus and carriers and combines it with data from core banking systems to aggregate a person's debts and make balance transfers, bill payments, and repayments personal. can be run on your behalf.
Fintech developers can use Method's API to incorporate technology into their apps. All users of these apps have to do is enter their phone number.
Emerging from stealth in 2021, Method now supports over 30 million account connections for 4 million users and has facilitated the repayment of over $500 million in debt to date.
The method powers many repayment features in fintech apps. Image credit: Method
This method handles a lot of sensitive data and may give some users pause. However, Shah claims that Method only collects “minimal user information” and does not sell the data to third parties. The company also plans to launch a portal where users can log in and manage the data they've shared with Method customers.
Method competes with major vendors such as Plaid, MX, Spinwheel, and Dwolla. However, many of these rely on systems that require users to enter financial account credentials, which can become a point of friction, Shah argued.
“Method helps financial institutions and fintechs like SoFi, Aven, Happy Money, and Figure improve the user experience and engagement and increase conversions while improving the financial journey of millions of Americans. We support you,” Shah continued. “Consumers don't have to re-authenticate multiple times for different accounts, and once Method captures a consumer's debts, they can use Method's payment rails to pay those debts.”
This method recently added credit card support. It supports Bilt's credit card linking tool, which allows Bilt customers to connect their cards and receive points on eligible purchases. In the near future, Method plans to deepen its relationships with banks and roll out credit card network integrations for its retail and travel customers.
“Many shoppers don't feel comfortable saving their card details and don't want to take the time to do so,” Shah said. “With this method, guests and returning customers are presented with their current credit card wallet (including all active credit cards in their possession) by simply entering their name and phone number. Merchants will have greater influence over the checkout experience and will have complete visibility into their wallets to better understand their customers across channels and cards.”
To fund the product's growth, the 35-employee Austin-based Method is launching a series led by Emergence Capital with participation from Avra Capital, Samsung Next, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Ardent. Raised $41.5 million in B round. The new cash brings the company's total funding to approximately $60 million.