Empower acquires Petal, enters Southeast Asia with Cashalo deal

Petal is a New York-based consumer credit card and financial technology company, while Cashalo a consumer credit and lending company headquartered in the Philippines.

Founded in 2016, Empower has established itself as a pioneer in leveraging real-time cash flow, nontraditional data, and machine learning to evaluate financial responsibility and credit risk differently from traditional lenders. The company offers lines of credit and no-interest advances to approximately three-quarters of consumers who may have limited access to liquidity. With 2 million active subscribers and profitability achieved in 2022, Empower aims to transform the way people access and build credit.

The acquisitions of Petal and Cashalo provide Empower strategic entry points into the US credit card market and the Southeast Asian credit market, respectively. Petal, known for its high-quality Visa credit cards that utilize cash flow underwriting, enables individuals without credit scores to qualify for credit and establish a credit history using open banking data. Since its inception in 2018, Petal has approved nearly 400,000 consumers, many of whom had thin or no credit files at the time of approval.

The merger between Empower, Petal, and Cashalo is expected to enhance product offerings, operational efficiency, and analytical capabilities, with a shared commitment to utilizing technology and alternative data to expand financial opportunities for underserved populations. Empower representatives expressed confidence in the merged entity's ability to address credit insecurity on a global scale.