London-based fintech Glint has said it is preparing to enter the US market as it nears a close of a Series A funding round.
Glint is an alternative e-payment solution backed by physical gold. It uses a card that clients can hold a range of currencies and then opt to covert this into physical gold that they can then use to spend.
It is currently raising its Series A, partly through a crowdfunding target of £1.25m. This was achieved, on Crowdcube, in just 72 hours. The round closes on 30 August and is nearing £2m of commitments.
To support Glint’s expansion into the US the firm is partnering with Sutton Bank, for Mastercard issuing, and Galileo Processing for its card and ACH processing.
Sutton Bank is an 140-year-old US community bank. Galileo was founded nearly 20 years ago and specialises in fraud detection offerings, security, decision-making analytics and regulatory compliance functionality. Its platform will provide Glint with direct deposit and debit card transaction processing.
Glint, which launch in December 2017, says it has exceeded its original beta target of 20,000 registered customers owning a Glint card.
Customers can now hold, euros and US dollars, along with gold and sterling in multi-currency wallets. All these currencies can be spent through the global Mastercard network using the Glint card.
Glint was founded by Jason Cozens and Ben Davies and is backed by investors in the UK, Europe, Japan, and Canada. Key investors include NEC Capital Solutions, through its venture fund co-operated with Venture Labo Investment, and the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. NEC Capital Solutions is the affiliated company of NEC Corporation, a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies. TOCOM is Japan’s largest commodity exchanges.
Ben Davies, co-founder of Glint, said: “We are so delighted to have partnered with Sutton Bank and Galileo Processing. It’s been an invigorating experience working with leaders in the US innovative payment sector. With their expertise we aim to provide everyone in the US the chance to use a safe and independent money, that of gold; just as we are doing in the UK and Europe.
