Imprint, which offers branded payments and rewards products, today announced a $38 million Series A funding round led by Kleiner Perkins with Stripe participating. Imprint is building the easiest, most rewarding, and most inclusive way for customers to pay at the brands they love. Imprint’s first product is a branded rewards card that puts customers first, with no credit inquiries, no interest, and absolutely no fees. With Imprint, brands can take ownership of how their customers pay, significantly reduce their cost to process payments, and reinvest these savings into rich rewards for their customers. As a result, brands can boost retention and customer lifetime value with minimal investment.

“The branded-payment space has not changed since co-branded credit cards were introduced in the 90s and no longer meets the needs of modern brands and modern customers,” said Daragh Murphy, CEO & Co-founder of Imprint. “We see an opportunity to provide a branded payment service that reduces payments costs for brands, while empowering them to offer their customers a brand-centric payments experience and rich rewards. We’re seeing a generational shift away from credit cards, and we’ve built an inclusive product that offers almost 100% of customers access to great rewards and customized experiences at their favorite brands.”

With costs to acquire new customers becoming unsustainable, a focus on customer loyalty is more important than ever. Imprint provides a seamless and cost-effective platform to boost retention and increase the lifetime value of every customer. Because the savings from payment processing costs fund the rewards, customers will get 5% back every time they shop at their favorite brands and 1% back when they shop at other brands they love. Imprint works with each brand to ensure that customers get the tailored benefits and experiences that create long lasting loyalty, and Imprint is constantly building new ways for customers to earn rewards and showcase their status.

Any brand can design their own end-to-end experience and get it up and running in less than a week, with minimal technical investment. Imprint’s commerce platform apps and APIs allow brands to quickly and seamlessly integrate their payment method at check-out or anywhere else in their online or app experience.

“Payments and credit cards generally have been a zero-sum game for brands and customers alike,” said Gaurav Ahuja, Chairman & Co-founder of Imprint and Partner at Thrive Capital. “Imprint is focused on shifting the payments paradigm to positive-sum for brands and their customers. We empower great brands to cut out the middlemen, pointing economic value traditionally captured by legacy banks back to brands and their customers. This results in customers who are more loyal and higher spenders.”

This new round of equity funding will support Imprint's continued growth, market expansion, and partnership development. Following this round, Imprint has raised a total of $53 million. Imprint’s backers include leading funds, fintech companies, and individuals, including Kleiner Perkins, Stripe, Thrive Capital, Affirm, Allen & Co., James Corden, Lloyd Blankfein, and the CEOs of leading consumer brands.

“Imprint offers a great product experience for online brands and commerce platforms, in particular,” said Chris Sperandio, corporate development lead at Stripe. “As consumers’ purchasing behavior continues to evolve, it makes sense to offer them merchant-specific cards that are tailored to their environment. We’re excited to partner with Imprint, both by investing in their business and by using Stripe Issuing infrastructure to power their product.”

About Imprint:

Imprint is a branded payment and rewards platform that allows brands to remove the middleman from their customer relationships and provide their customers the easiest and most rewarding way to pay. With Imprint, brands can own how their customers pay and give them customized benefits and experiences that create long-lasting loyalty.

For more information, please visit our website at Imprint.co and also follow us on LinkedIn.

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