In the last six years, the corporate charge card market (see definition below) has seen the launch of 3 major digital players (Ramp in 2019, Brex in 2017, and Divvy in 2016) that are already multi-unicorns. In addition, Expensify (founded in 2008), went public late last year and is now worth $1.5B (though it was valued at nearly $5B shortly after its 10 Nov 2021 IPO).
Below is a list of the 17 challenger business credit cards currently active in the United States. Two have been acquired by large banks in 2021 (Capital One bought Lola and US Bancorp acquired Bento for Business) and will stay on this list as long as they operate as independent brands.
Challenger of the Month
Website (acquired by Bill.com) | HQ: Utah | Founded: 2016 | Valuation: $2.5B (June 2021 exit) | Raised $418M ($165M since Jan 2021) | Website visits (Sep 2022): 320,000 | Employees: 443 | Articles: 77 | Linkedin: 30,600 followers (717 employees)
Why do Divvy customers love it so much?
✓ No annual fees ✓ Flexible rewards ✓ Free-to-use software platform ✓ Stable credit lines ✓ Automated expense management ✓ As many physical & virtual cards as you need ✓ Budgets with built-in spend controls ✓ Real-time transaction tracking ✓ Integrations with apps you use everyday
NEW: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (12) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB charge cards/expense management (16) | Billpay & invoicing (16)| Payment processors (7) | Subscription processors (7) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21) | Equity crowdfunding (7)
The FAB Score Ranking (Fintech Attention Barometer) is a proxy for the size of a private fintech company.
Leading USA Digital Small Business Charge Cards (updated 5 Jan 2023)
ranked by FAB score (Fintech Attention Barometer*)
| Rank | Was | Company | FAB Score* | Review Date | Founded | HQ | Funding ($M)** | Visits (Nov 22) |
| AD*** | Divvy (Bill.com) | 194 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2016 | Utah | $418 | 370,000 | |
| 1 | 1 | Ramp | 864 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2019 | NYC | $1,360 | 980,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Expensify | 500 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2008 | SF | $401 | 1,600,000 |
| 3 | 3 | Jeeves | 210 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2019 | NYC | $368 | 120,000 |
| 4 | 4 | Divvy (Bill.com) | 194 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2016 | Utah | $418 | 370,000 |
| 5 | 5 | Airbase | 130 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2017 | SF | $252 | 65,000 |
| 6 | 6 | Bonsai | 111 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2016 | 0.1 | 550000 | |
| 7 | 7 | Tribal Credit | 73 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2016 | SF | $143 | 20,000 |
| 8 | 13 | Teampay | 41 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2016 | NYC | $80 | 36,000 |
| 9 | 8 | Center | 40 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2018 | Bellevue, WA | $70 | 17,000 |
| 10 | 9 | Karat | 33 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2019 | SF | $46 | 39,000 |
| 11 | 10 (t) | PEX Card | 24 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2007 | NYC | $5 | 150,000 |
| 12 | 10 (t) | Bento for Business (US Bank) | 23 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2014 | SF | $25 | 93,000 |
| 13 | 12 | Lola (Capital One) | 15 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2015 | Boston | $82 | 15,000 |
| 14(t) | 14 | Dash.fi (was FunnelDash) | 4 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2016 | Austin | $4 | 8,500 |
| 14(t) | 15(t) | Profit (was Swipedom) | 4 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2019 | NYC | $1 | 0 |
| 14(t) | 15(t) | Comcard | 4 | 5 Jan ’23 | 2019 | LA | $0 | 0 |
Source: Compiled by FintechLabs, 5 Jan 2023, from Crunchbase, SEMrush, SimilarWeb
“Was” = rank on 24 Oct 2022
Notes:
*FAB score = Fintech Attention Barometer, a proprietary measure of company size calculated by Fintech Labs. Inputs primarily include funding, website traffic and employee count.
**Funding includes both equity and debt amounts (millions of U.S. dollars)
***FintechLabs may receive referral revenues from issuers which does not impact their FAB score but does impact their placement on the site
Definition: Charge cards require the balance to be paid in full each month; credit cards allow the balance to be rolled over, often at a relatively high interest rate).
Profiles: Challenger SMB Charge Card Issuers
1. Ramp
FAB Score = 864 (unchanged since Aug 2022)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2019
– Valuation: $8.1B (based on Feb 2022 round) <<< Highest
– Raised $1.4B total <<< Highest
– Raised $1.3B since Jan 2021 (Crunchbase) <<< Highest
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 980,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 402 (Pitchbook) <<< Highest
– Articles: 43 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 46,800 followers (472 employees)
– G2: 4.7 (837 reviews)
2. Expensify
FAB Score = 500 (unchanged since Aug 22)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2008
– Raised $401M ($363 since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Market cap: $630M (NASDAQ:EXFY)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 1.6M (SimilarWeb) <<<< Highest
– Employees: 194 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 391 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 11,800 followers (179 employees)
– TrustRadius: 8.2 (321 reviews) (Note: TrustPilot scores not valid at this time).
3. Jeeves
FAB Score = 210 (up 7)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $368M ($363M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 120,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 237 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 14 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 15,800 followers (237 employees)
– Trustpilot: 3.7 (34 reviews)
4. Divvy (acquired by Bill.com)
FAB Score = 194 (up 10)
– HQ: Utah
– Founded: 2016
– Valuation: $2.5B (June 2021 exit)
– Raised $418M ($165M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Sep 2022): 370,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 443 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 77 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 30,600 followers (717 employees)
– Trustpilot: 2.7 (277 reviews)
5. Airbase
FAB Score = 130 (down 3)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2017
– Raised $252M ($221M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Sep 2022): 65,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 273 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 180 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 36,100 followers (298 employees)
– G2: 4.8 (1,163 reviews) <<< Highest
6. Bonsai
FAB Score = 111 (up 10)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2016
– Raised: $120,000+
– Website traffic: 550,000 (Nov 2022, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 34 (Pitchbook)
– Linkedin followers: 1,930
– Trustpilot score: 4.8 (210 reviews)
7. Tribal Credit
FAB Score = 73 (down 10)
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $143M ($134M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 20,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 400 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 14 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 22,000 followers (387 employees)
– Trustpilot: No reviews
8. TeamPay
FAB Score = 41 (up 31) <<< Biggest gainer
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $79,8 (includes $58.8 since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visitors (Nov 2022): 36,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 100 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 6 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,200 followers (101 employees)
– G2 rating: 4.3 (96 reviews)
9. Center
FAB Score = 40 (up 4)
– HQ: Bellevue, WA
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $69.3 including $64.3M since Jan 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 17,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 133 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,300 followers (133 employees)
– G2: 4.6 (210 reviews)
10. Karat
FAB Score = 33 (unchanged since Oct)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2019
– Raised: $45.6 ($41 since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 39,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 51 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 4 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,500 followers (52 employees)
– Trustpilot: No reviews
11. PEX Card
FAB Score = 24 (up 2)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised $4.9M ($0 in past 12 months) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Sep 2022): 150,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 92 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 6,400 followers (92 employees)
– Trustpilot: No reviews
12. Bento for Business (acquired by US Bank, Aug 2021)
FAB Score = 23 (up 1)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2007
– Raised $24.5M ($6M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Sep 2022): 93,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 32 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 42 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,600 followers (37 employees)
– Trustpilot: 2.0 (102 reviews)
13. Lola (acquired by Capital One, 2021)
FAB Score = 15 (up 2)
– HQ: Boston
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $81.7M (prior to 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (June 2022): 15,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 57 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 4 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 6,600 followers (13 employees)
– Trustpilot: 4.1 (215 reviews) <<< Highest Trustpilot score
14 (tie). Dash.fi (was FunnelDash)
FAB Score = 4 (down 2)
– HQ: Austin
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $3.7 ($3.2M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (June 2022): 8,500 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 26 (LinkedIn)
– Articles: 0 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 290 followers (25 employees)
– G2: 4.5 (63 reviews)
14 (tie). Profit (was Swipedom)
FAB Score = 4 (unchanged)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2019
– Raised $1.5M (including $1M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): INA (SEMrush)
– Employees: 11 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 4 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 260 followers (90 employees)
– Trustpilot: No reviews
14 (tie). Comcard
FAB Score = 4 (unchanged)
– HQ: LA
– Founded: 2019
– Raised $200k (prior to 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): INA (SEMrush)
– Employees: 4 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 1 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 90 followers (4 employees)
– Reviews: NA
Unranked (focusing on larger businesses, enterprises or cards as a service)
Brex
– HQ: SF
– Founded: 2017
– Valuation: $12B (based on Oct 2021 round)
– Raised $1.46B ($725M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 1.1M (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 1,200 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 299 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 89,600 followers (1,335 employees)
– Trustpilot: 3.6 (541 reviews)
Mercantile
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2021
– Raised $22M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Sep 2022): 630 (SEMrush)
– Articles: 4 (Crunchbase)
– Employees: 13 (LinkedIn) INA (Pitchbook)
– Linkedin: 179 followers (13 employees)
– No Trustpilot profile
Rho
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $205M ($200M since Jan 2021) (Crunchbase)
– Website visits (Nov 2022): 43,000 (SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 128 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 21 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,000 followers (177 employees)
– Trustpilot: No reviews
