So much innovation in fintech seems to be about creating hubs. Amazon created a retail hub, Algomi created a trading information hub, Fintech Reviews creates an information hub and so on. There’s so much information and opportunity out there that users want to access it in ways that are simple, efficient, and maximise the potential of opportunities.

Curve set out to create a money hub and they have made a success of it so far. They’ve recently passed 50,000 user sign-ups and £50 million user spend. The concept is that customers only carry one MasterCard and this is attached to all of their bank accounts. They use the Curve app to designate which card is charged when using the MasterCard. This allows them to access several accounts without carrying multiple cards.

Fintech Reviews– what is Curve offering?

The appeal of Curve goes beyond convenience. They boast of a higher level of security for customers as merchants never get to see their card numbers.

Curve is accepted in many countries and using their services internationally costs less than a number of standard methods.

A cool feature of Curve is the ‘time travel’ aspect. A user can pay for something using one card and, if they decide they have made a mistake, they can transfer the transaction to another card within a 2 week window.

So far, Curve have only offered the beta version to SMEs. A consumer version of the product is in the works and they will close a Series A funding round this summer.

Fintech Reviews – what reception has Curve experienced?

Customer views of Curve were initially impressive. There is some risk associated with only carrying one card if that card fails, however, and some clients have had this experience. A big plus to begin with for American Express users was that Curve allowed them to use Amex even in places that did not accept Amex. It was a big blow for the company when American Express decided to remove their support from the system citing ‘service level’ issues. Overall, the jury is still out from the customer point of view.

However, industry regard of Curve remains high. They are in the Fintech50 for 2017 and won the WIRED Money 2017 award.