As Cardless announces $30 million funding round, can small businesses benefit from it?

On November 26, Cardless, a San Francisco-based startup that operates a series of co-branded bank cards in partnership with Alibaba, Qatar Airways, LATAM Airlines, Simon Property Group and American Express, announced that it had received $30 million in fundingheaded by Activant Capital.

According to Michael Spelfogel, co-founder and CEO of Cardless: “Over the last 12 months, we have been able to design products for some of the best brands in the world, including Qatar Airways and Alibaba,” Spelfogel said.

He continued: “These brands chose us because of our differentiated approach to the entire co-branded card experience. From built-in user experience to leveraging brand data for personalized sign-up offers, Cardless delivers an experience that other co-branded banks and fintechs can’t match. We will use these funds to further develop our world-class team, which will enable us to scale both new and existing programs.”

According to , the corporate won’t disclose its exact valuation, including whether the brand new funding round represents a rise, decrease or stagnation in comparison with the last valuation, just north of the $350 million posted in 2021.

There are also competing narratives surrounding the corporate; reports that the cards could possibly be used to disrupt the branded card space, but not necessarily on the patron side of the market.

This narrative appears to be optimistic for Andrew Steele, co-founder of Activant Capital.

Activant Capital, together with Mischief, Industry Ventures, Thayer Ventures, Assurant and Amex Ventures, led a $30 million fundraising round for Cardless.

“Cardless is attacking one of the largest fintech markets that has been woefully undervalued in the past,” Steele said.

Steele continued: “Prior to Cardless, the world’s largest brands were hesitant to launch credit cards because the customer service provided by cobrand-focused banks was not up to their standards. Cardless has been able to take the industry by storm and launch cards from some of the most sought-after brands in the market. “Cardless has built the only embedded platform capable of serving both consumers and SMBs, and we are excited to redouble its efforts as the company continues to scale large programs for some of the best companies in the world.”

NerdWallet notes in its reports that buyers who continuously use connected airlines or other card-related corporations, reminiscent of Qatar Airways or Simon Malls, JCPenneys and Reebok, amongst others, will find greater use for cards than others.

However, there may be one caveat regarding cards: just one card can be issued to a cardholder, even when the corporate’s previous card has been closed.

There can also be speculation that Cardless could also be a way for small and medium-sized businesses to deal with potential issues arising from looming tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, Spelfogel said in a press release.

“Our experience in the aerospace sector has shown us how to effectively adapt solutions, and now we are applying this knowledge to help small and medium-sized enterprises overcome their unique challenges,” said Spelfogel.

According to , under Trump’s proposed tariffs, small businesses could face a turbulent 4 yearsranging from supply chain disruptions, increased labor costs, reduced profit margins and labor shortages.

According to Yega Tita-Costia, a black small business owner from Pittsburgh, tariffs could make corporations like her Yeremiah’s Sisters Beauty Supply fall victim to Trump’s trade wars.

“I think that we, small businesses, are victims of war and no one really thinks about the effects of war on us and our families or even just our communities,” Tita-Costia said.

She continued, “Ninety percent of the products we have in this store come from China. “To go from $250 to $300 for a $4,000 order and pay almost $1,300, or even for 1,300 pieces, is over a dollar plus the price of each piece.”

Tita-Costia concluded: “We will have to take the hit and maybe put some pressure on our customers, but it will be a drastic change.”