What Petal does

Petal is a U.S. consumer fintech that issues three Visa credit card products — Petal 1 ($0 annual fee), Petal 1 Rise ($59/year), and Petal 2 (no fees of any kind) — targeted at credit-unscored and credit-rebuilding consumers who are typically declined by mainstream issuers. Cards are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC, with Petal operating as the program manager under Tilt Card, Inc. (NMLS #2295169). The company was founded in 2016 by Andrew Endicott, David Ehrich, and Jack Arenas, and is now a brand within the Tilt (formerly Empower Finance) family of companies following a 2025 acquisition.

Petal's core technical differentiator is CashScore, a proprietary cash-flow underwriting model that evaluates applicants using real-time bank-account transaction data — income, savings, and spending — gathered through bank-account linking in the Petal Mobile App, rather than relying solely on a traditional FICO score. This underwriting engine powers pre-approval, card-product assignment, and the in-app Leap program, which considers members for a credit-limit increase after six billing cycles of qualifying on-time payments without a hard credit pull. The company also operates an in-app Insights dashboard (Spend Chart, Top Merchants, Top Categories), card controls (freeze, AutoPay, push notifications, fraud detection), and a Cardlytics-powered personalized cash-back rewards program with 1%–10% back at 10,000+ local businesses and 20,000+ locations.

Petal's revenue model rests on three streams disclosed on its About page: (1) interest income on revolving balances, with variable APRs of 28.24%–33.24% on Petal 1 / Petal 1 Rise and 28.24%–30.24% on Petal 2; (2) merchant interchange fees on every swipe across the Visa network; and (3) card fees, including the $59 Petal 1 Rise annual fee and up to $40 in late-payment fees when incurred (Petal 2 charges none of these). Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via a self-serve digital funnel on petalcard.com (no-credit-check pre-approval, then full application) plus the Petal mobile app for onboarding and ongoing engagement, with no enterprise or B2B distribution at the consumer-facing layer. Customer support is in-house ([email protected], 1-855-697-3825), while card issuance, regulated banking, and cash-back rewards are delivered through partnerships with WebBank, Visa, and Cardlytics. Petal has cumulatively raised approximately $1 billion in equity, debt, and securitization across multiple rounds, with the most recent major capital events being a $35M strategic round in May 2023 (Synchrony, Samsung Next) coinciding with the spin-off of Prism Data, and a combined $240M in debt and equity in August 2023 (Victory Park Capital lead).

Name

Petal

Legal name

Tilt Card, Inc.

Website

https://petalcard.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Petal is a U.S. consumer fintech offering three Visa credit cards (Petal 1, Petal 1 Rise, Petal 2) for credit-unscored and rebuilding consumers, using its proprietary CashScore cash-flow underwriting engine. Cards are issued by WebBank, and the company now operates as a brand within the Tilt (formerly Empower Finance) family following a 2025 acquisition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Credit Cards

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (52221), Credit Card Issuing (522210)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer Credit Decisioning & Underwriting Platforms (FSAKAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Subprime / Credit-Building Credit Cards (FSAKABAJ)

Keywords

• Cash flow underwriting
• Credit builder cards
• Alternative credit scoring
• Visa credit cards
• Underserved consumer credit

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Interest income (APR): Cardmembers who do not pay their full statement balance each month are charged interest at the variable APR (Petal 1 / Petal 1 Rise: 28.24%–33.24%; Petal 2: 28.24%–30.24%). This is one of three primary revenue streams explicitly disclosed on Petal's About page.
2. Merchant interchange: Merchants pay an interchange fee on every Petal card transaction in order to accept credit-card payments. Disclosed by Petal as one of three primary revenue streams.
3. Card fees: Petal may charge certain fees on its Petal 1 and Petal 1 Rise cards, including a $59 annual fee on Petal 1 Rise and up to $40 late-payment fees if incurred. Petal 2 charges no annual, late, foreign, or returned-payment fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Petal offers three Visa credit cards (Petal 1, Petal 1 Rise, and Petal 2) targeted at underserved U.S. consumers who lack a FICO score or have thin credit files. Underwriting is powered by the proprietary CashScore model, which evaluates applicants using real-time bank-account cash-flow data linked during application rather than relying solely on a traditional credit score. Cards are issued by WebBank, and members access account management, the Leap credit-line-increase program, and cash-back rewards through the Petal mobile app.

Product overview

Petal offers a unified credit-card platform built on its proprietary CashScore cash flow underwriting technology, delivered through three Visa credit cards issued by WebBank (Petal 1, Petal 1 Rise, and Petal 2), the Petal Mobile App, and the Leap credit-limit-increase program. CashScore underpins pre-approval, card-product assignment, and credit limit decisions by analyzing linked bank-account cash flow rather than relying solely on a traditional credit score. Cardholders access their accounts and features (Leap, Insights, AutoPay, card freeze, personalized Cardlytics-powered cash back, and credit score tracking) via the Petal Mobile App. The business now operates as part of Tilt (formerly Empower Finance), with Petal's B2B underwriting technology further commercialized through the spun-off Prism Data subsidiary.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Petal 1: Build credit, simply. Petal 1 Visa credit card with $0 annual membership fee, 1%-10% cash back at select national merchants, and variable APR of 28.24%-33.24%. Designed to help members establish or rebuild credit.
• Petal 1 Rise
• Petal 2

Products and services

• Petal 1 Visa Credit Card
• Petal 1 Rise Visa Credit Card
• Petal 2 Visa Credit Card
• Petal Mobile App

Quantifiable outcome

• Approves and serves consumers without a traditional credit score who are typically declined by mainstream issuers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• WebBankflagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerWebBank, Member FDIC, is the regulated issuer of all Petal Visa credit cards (Petal 1, Petal 1 Rise, Petal 2). Petal operates as the program manager/brand while WebBank provides the issuing bank charter; this relationship is repeated across every Petal product page, blog footer, and Leap program terms.
• VisaflagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerPetal credit cards are Visa credit cards (Petal 1 Family Visa Credit Card, Petal 2 Visa Credit Card), leveraging the Visa network for acceptance and contactless payment capability.
• Tilt (Tilt Card, Inc. / Empower Finance)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPetal is now a Tilt company; Petal operates under Tilt Card, Inc. (NMLS #2295169), and Empower Finance rebranded to Tilt in 2025 with Tilt having acquired Petal in the U.S., enabling Petal to deliver on its credit-access mission at greater scale.
• CardlyticscoreTechnology or IntegrationCardlytics powers Petal's personalized cash back rewards program, providing offers from 10,000+ local businesses and 20,000+ locations, with members automatically enrolled in 1%–10% cash back.
• Prism DatacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrism Data was spun off from Petal in May 2023 as a separate B2B company (led by CEO Jason Rosen) to license Petal's cash-flow underwriting technology and open-banking data infrastructure to other lenders and financial institutions.
• Cash-back merchant partners (e.g., adidas, Charlotte Tilbury, Costco, Shake Shack, TOMS)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerNational retailers featured in the launch of Petal's personalized cash back program — adidas (6%), Charlotte Tilbury (5%), Costco ($20), Shake Shack (5%, 15% over $30), TOMS (5%) — providing statement-credit or cash-back-funded offers to Petal cardholders.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Deserve (now part of Self): Deserve issued credit cards specifically to students and thin-file consumers using alternative underwriting; it was acquired by Self in 2024. It is a direct historical peer to Petal in both target customer and underwriting philosophy.
• Possible Finance: Possible offers credit-builder loans and a forthcoming credit card for underbanked consumers using cash-flow underwriting and a mobile app, directly comparable to Petal's cash-flow approach and consumer profile.
• Mission Lane: Mission Lane issues Visa credit cards to non-prime consumers using alternative underwriting data, with an emphasis on graduated credit-line increases. It competes head-to-head with Petal's Petal 1 and Petal 2 in the same unscored / thin-file segment.
• Kikoff: Kikoff provides credit-builder accounts and a secured credit card for thin-file consumers, with a mobile-first experience and a credit-building flywheel similar to Petal's Leap program.
• Self (formerly Self Lender): Self offers credit-builder loans and a credit-builder credit card to thin-file and unscored US consumers via a mobile app. It is directly comparable to Petal in target customer (underserved consumers), product structure (card plus credit-building mechanics), and emphasis on reporting to the three major credit bureaus.
• TomoCredit: TomoCredit issues credit cards to international students, thin-file, and unscored consumers using alternative underwriting. It targets the same non-prime demographic as Petal and emphasizes no fees and in-app engagement.

Broad incumbents

• Credit One Bank: Credit One Bank is a direct-to-consumer subprime credit card issuer serving non-prime consumers, the same population Petal targets. It is a broad incumbent that competes with Petal across multiple fee and reward tiers.
• Capital One (QuicksilverOne, Capital One Platinum): Capital One's QuicksilverOne and Platinum cards are established subprime credit-builder cards that Petal competes against directly. Capital One is a broad incumbent whose subprime product overlaps with Petal's niche but whose full portfolio dwarfs Petal.
• Discover (Discover it Secured): Discover offers the Discover it Secured card as a credit-building product for consumers building or rebuilding credit. As a broad incumbent in consumer credit, Discover overlaps with Petal's target customer via a different (secured) underwriting approach.

Emerging players

• Chime (Credit Builder): Chime's Credit Builder secured card targets thin-file consumers within Chime's broader neobank base, providing an in-app credit-building experience. It is an emerging player that has moved into Petal's credit-builder niche from a different starting point (large neobank distribution).

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Petal
• Facebookfacebook.com/PetalCard
• Instagraminstagram.com/petalcard
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/petalcard

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds14 records

Investors49 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Petal