“Can cash-flow underwriting replace FICO scores as the basis for extending credit cards to the 100M+ Americans with thin or no credit files?”
Founded in 2016 as CreditBridge, the company quickly pivoted to become Petal, a consumer credit card platform targeting underserved consumers lacking traditional credit history. Petal differentiated through cash-flow underwriting via open banking data rather than FICO scores, issuing Visa cards through sponsor bank WebBank. After a $140M Series D in 2022 approaching unicorn status, Petal was acquired by Empower Finance in 2024 to combine alternative underwriting capabilities and accelerate credit access for underserved U.S. consumers.
Petal discloses WebBank (sponsor bank, in-house issuing program) as its banking provider, with WebBank as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Petal does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through WebBank.
Petal's cards are issued through WebBank.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Petal's stack: Banking / BaaS (WebBank (sponsor bank, in-house issuing program)); Card issuing (WebBank); Lending (Petal 1 Credit Card (revolving credit) and Petal 2 Credit Card (revolving credit)); Sponsor bank (WebBank).
Petal is founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York, NY, USA.
Petal has raised $270M+ in total (latest round: Series D, January 2022; valuation: $800M post-money (2022)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Petal and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.