What Glint does

Glint is a UK-based fintech founded in 2016 that operates a mobile application and prepaid Mastercard enabling individual consumers to buy, save, and spend allocated physical gold in everyday transactions. The platform holds client gold as allocated bullion in Brink's vault in Switzerland with Lloyds of London insurance, and lets users convert gold to fiat at the point of sale via Mastercard in 210+ countries, with parallel USD wallet functionality and free instant P2P USD transfers between Glint accounts. Core technology components include HooYu-powered KYC/AML onboarding, 24/7 gold trading with an added margin outside market hours, dollar-cost-averaging automation, and support for spending in 150+ currencies. Revenue is generated primarily through a 0.9% transaction fee on gold buy/sell and FX/spend activity, plus a one-time ~$10 card-issuance fee. The company is FCA-authorized in the UK (Firm Reference 900657) and operates a US card program through Sutton Bank with funds held at an FDIC-member institution; it is backed by investors including British Business Bank, Sprott, Tocom, and Sibanye-Stillwater.

Name

Glint

Legal name

Glint Pay Services Ltd

Website

https://glintpay.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Glint is a UK fintech that runs a mobile app and prepaid Mastercard letting individual consumers buy, save, and spend allocated physical gold stored in Brink's Switzerland vault, earning revenue through 0.9% transaction fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Gold Payments

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant) (BPAMAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cross-Border FX, Multi-Currency & Treasury for Payments (FSAGABAK), Cross-Border Card-Based Transfers & Multi-Currency Cards (FSAGAKAE)

Keywords

• Digital gold payments
• Precious metals fintech
• Gold-backed debit card
• Multi-currency wallet
• Allocated gold ownership

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Gold Transaction Fees: Users pay a 0.9% transaction fee when buying or selling gold. This is the primary revenue stream from the core gold trading functionality.
2. FX/Spend Fees: Fees charged when spending gold internationally or converting between currencies. Users can move money into GBP, EUR, and USD and spend in 150+ currencies with a 0.9% transaction fee.
3. Card Fees: One-time fee for issuing the Glint prepaid debit card (approximately $10).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Glint operates a mobile fintech platform and prepaid Mastercard that enables individual consumers to buy, save, exchange, send, and spend allocated physical gold and multiple currencies. Each user holds allocated physical gold bullion stored in Brink's vault in Switzerland and insured by Lloyds of London, and can convert that gold to fiat at the point of purchase through the Mastercard network in 210+ countries. The platform charges a 0.9% transaction fee on gold and currency transactions plus a one-time card issuance fee of approximately $10.

Product overview

Glint is a fintech platform enabling users to buy, save, and spend allocated physical gold as everyday money via a mobile app and prepaid Mastercard debit card. The core offering consists of the Glint App, which provides Gold and USD wallets for holding and trading, a Glint Mastercard for spending gold at any Mastercard acceptance point globally, and P2P payment functionality. Gold is stored as allocated bullion in Brink's vault in Switzerland, insured by Lloyds of London. The platform operates with FCA authorization in the UK and partners with Sutton Bank in the US for card issuing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Glint App Mobile application for iOS and Android that lets individual users buy, sell, save, and spend allocated physical gold as everyday money. Supports Gold and USD wallets, internal transfers, dollar cost averaging automation, and access to the Glint Mastercard.
• Glint Mastercard Prepaid Debit Card Prepaid Mastercard debit card linked to a user's gold balance that automatically converts gold to local fiat currency at the point of purchase, enabling spending of physical gold anywhere Mastercard is accepted globally.
• Gold Wallet Digital wallet holding allocated physical gold bullion owned by the user, stored in Brink's Vault in Switzerland and insured by Lloyds of London. Users can buy or sell any amount at wholesale market rates with a 0.9% transaction fee, with 24/7 trading available.
• USD Wallet Multi-currency wallet allowing users to hold and transfer US Dollars between Glint accounts and spend abroad with the Glint Card in any of 150+ Mastercard-supported currencies at a 0.9% transaction fee.
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) USD Payments Feature enabling Glint users to instantly, securely, and freely send US Dollars to other Glint account holders, with transfers currently restricted to users in the same country of residence except within SEPA.

Quantifiable outcome

• Users can spend gold at over 210 countries and territories where Mastercard is accepted
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HooYucoreTechnology or IntegrationGlint partnered with identity verification specialist HooYu to provide KYC and AML compliance during the account opening process. HooYu's technology combines modern identity methods including digital footprint analysis and facial biometrics with traditional protocols including database checks and PEPs/sanctions screening to verify customers within minutes. HooYu deletes all document images and social data after verification is complete.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationGlint's prepaid debit card is powered by Mastercard, enabling users to spend gold anywhere Mastercard is accepted globally. The partnership enables gold to function as everyday money through electronic payments in 210+ countries and territories.
• Sutton BankcoreOthersSutton Bank, Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), serves as the issuing bank for Glint's US prepaid debit card. Glint Pay Inc. is a US-based authorized Card Program Manager. Funds are held at Sutton Bank.
• Brink'scoreOthersPhysical gold is stored in Brink's vault in Switzerland (one of the world's biggest custodians of precious metals). The gold is securely vaulted and insured by Lloyds of London.
• Lloyds of LondoncoreOthersGold holdings are insured by Lloyds of London, providing protection for clients' physical gold stored in Brink's vaults.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: PayPal is a broad digital wallet and payments incumbent; it overlaps with Glint's multi-currency and P2P use cases but is fiat-only and serves a vastly larger mainstream user base.
• APMEX: APMEX is one of the largest U.S. precious-metals retailers; it competes with Glint for retail gold buyers but operates through traditional e-commerce rather than a wallet-and-card model.

Direct peers

• GoldMoney: GoldMoney offers allocated physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium storage plus a linked payment card, directly mirroring Glint's allocated-gold-with-card model for individual savers and investors.
• Revolut: Revolut is a multi-currency digital wallet and prepaid card with global spending in 150+ currencies — the closest direct competitor to Glint's wallet-plus-Mastercard proposition, though fiat-only and at much larger scale.
• Wise (formerly TransferWise): Wise provides multi-currency accounts with a debit Mastercard for spending abroad at mid-market FX rates, competing directly with Glint's international travel and multi-currency wallet use case.
• BullionVault: BullionVault is one of the largest allocated physical gold and silver trading platforms for retail investors, competing with Glint for the same gold-saver persona but without an integrated spending card.
• OneGold: OneGold (backed by APMEX and Sprott) sells digital precious metals including allocated gold with redemption options, directly comparable to Glint's allocated gold offering for U.S. consumers.
• Kinesis Money: Kinesis offers gold- and silver-backed digital currency with a linked debit card for everyday spending, positioning it as a near-direct competitor in the gold-as-money category.

Emerging players

• Coinbase: Coinbase is a large crypto exchange that has periodically offered gold products and a debit card; it overlaps thematically with Glint on alternative-asset spending but is crypto-native rather than physical-gold-backed.

Others

• Mastercard: Mastercard is Glint's core enabling partner — its network provides the 210-country acceptance that makes gold spendable. It is comparable as an infrastructure dependency rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/glintpay
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/glint-pay
• Facebookfacebook.com/glintpay

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors7 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 Glint