Did Curve Force Visa and Mastercard to Innovate?
Understanding Curve’s business model, how Visa and Mastercard reacted, and the innovation that followed.
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This newsletter explores how money moves, around the world, and why it matters.
Curve has been on quite a journey. It was founded by Shachar Bialick in 2015, and last week, after much speculation, Lloyds Banking Group1 announced the acquisition of Curve. The price is reported to be £120m (approximately US $165m). But the impact of Curve goes well beyond the relatively modest acquisition price.2
The fintech had grand ambitions from the get-go — to be the access point to “everything money” — yet in an early meeting the challenge was made clear. In that meeting, Mastercard reportedly laughed Shachar Bialick “out of the room.”3 Based on Mastercard’s rulebook, what Curve wanted to do wasn’t feasible. It wasn’t compliant. But like all successful startups, Curve’s vision shone through, they got up and running, and the rest is history.
If we are successful in our mission with Curve, you…
