Vital Card

World's First "Social" Credit Card

Company Information

Website:

https://www.vitalcard.com/

Sector:

Credit & Collections

Location:

New York, NY

Vital Card is the world’s first “social” credit card.

Created by former executives at JP Morgan and BBVA, this credit card is designed to appeal to two demographics that spend the most: Millennials and Generation Z individuals.

These groups make up roughly the same population as Baby Boomers. Yet while nearly 50% of Baby Boomers own a credit card, less than 30% of Millennials and Gen-Z consumers do.

How come? Because a lot of these consumers don’t trust traditional credit card companies, many of whom place profits above all else. These consumers want a credit card that embraces the ideas of community sharing and social responsibility.

Vital Card is that credit card.

Notably, other credit cards that have targeted niche customers have achieved considerable success. For example:

Brex, a startup that created a credit card for small business owners, achieved a $2.6 billion valuation in 2019. And Petal, a startup whose credit card helps teach financial literacy and create spending habits, has raised more than $435 million in funding. Its investors include GR Capital, Hone Capital, Valar Ventures, and Great Oaks Venture Capital.

Simply put, Vital Card is a credit card that pays users to share and spend responsibly. This doesn’t just mean sticking to a budget. It also means establishing good credit behavior and making purchases at socially responsible merchants.

Like many other credit cards, Vital Card offers no annual fee and cash back of up to 5% on purchases.

However, this company uses two key strategies to engage with users in a way that no traditional company does.

First is the engagement around responsible spending. With Vital Card, users will receive notifications with suggestions on how to improve their credit scores. They’ll then receive either 1%, 2%, or 5% cash back at the end of each month based on a system of activity points. These points are earned when users spend at socially responsible merchants or increase their credit score.

The second strategy is engagement around growing the Vital community. While spending habits can determine how much cash a user earns each month, so can referrals to friends and family to apply for a Vital Card. Users are rewarded with points when their friends sign up, and even when those friends’ friends sign up. At the end of each month, 1% of all transactions made with Vital Cards go into a cash reward pool, and this pool is distributed to users with the highest point totals.

Vital Card completed a pre-launch campaign of its card in Q4 2020. It plans to bring its card to market in Q3 2021.

In the meantime, the company has built a waitlist of more than 150,000 members.

Said one member, “I joined Vital because I was looking for a credit card that would help me as much as I helped them.”

Said another, “I like the fact that Vital is about the people. I would want to use this card more due to the idea the company stands for something.”

It’s also partnered with Evolve Bank and Trust, which will handle aspects like fraud prevention, compliance, and underwriting services.

Once its cards are in circulation, Vital Card will earn revenue from interest payments. It will also generate income from other banking services.

Team Background

Chris Bridges - Co-Founder & CEO

Chris is a serial technology entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the financial payments industry.

Prior to starting Vital Card, he co-founded Vessix, a software-as-a-service company that featured point-of-sale and credit card processing for customers in the aviation industry. In 2017, Vessix was acquired by Flying Software Labs.

Before that, he was Director of Banctek Solutions, a financial services company affiliated with Wells Fargo. This company provided merchants with tools to accept payments from credit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

Adam Spencer - Co-Founder & COO

Adam has spent more than 20 years in sales and organizational planning, including working for multiple global financial institutions.

He began his career with JP Morgan, an investment bank, where he spent 12 years as a district manager. From there, he was a consumer banking director with BBVA, a banking company.

More recently, he was Chief Operating Officer of Aurora Payments, a financial services company, as well as Managing Partner with Elev8 Advisors Group, a consulting company focused on the financial services and payments areas.

Adam earned a Bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College.

Joseph Cohen - Chief Technology Officer

Joseph has 20 years of experience in system architecture design and management.

He began his career as a programmer with Honda, an auto manufacturer, where he designed and developed software programs. From there, he was a system architect with Autoland, an auto sales company. While there, he set up the company’s e-commerce platform.

More recently, Joseph spent five years as Chief Technology Officer with Automarket Direct, an automotive services company. He oversaw IT operations and software development. He then was a business system architect with Financial Partners Credit Union, a financial services company.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from California State University.

Vincent Bradley - Co-Founder & Board Member

Vincent previously co-founded FlashFunders, an equity crowdfunding platform. This company was acquired in 2017 by Boustead & Company, a financial services firm.

Before that, he was a product manager with Graphiq, a data-focused technology company that was acquired by Amazon.

Vincent studied at the University of Michigan.

Co-Investors

Raising
$1.07 million
Committed
$776.445K (73%)
Current Valuation
$10 million
Min. Investment
$500
Deal Type
Title III
(For all investors)
Offering Type
Equity
Finance History
Notable Investors
Learn more on Start Engine