Dive Brief:

• Chicago-based banking technology provider Amount has purchased Linear Financial Technologies for $175 million in cash and stock, according to a Tuesday news release. Linear, based in Reston, Virginia, is a small and midsize business loan and account origination platform.
• Once the deal closes, Linear will be rebranded as Amount Small Business; Linear’s CEO, Sam Graziano, will join Amount’s executive team and become head of Amount Small Business. The combined business will be led by Amount CEO Adam Hughes.
• Amount has approximately 450 employees split between Chicago and Los Angeles, and Linear has about 190 employees between its New York City and Reston, Virginia offices. All four office locations and workers will be retained, according to an Amount spokesperson.

Dive Insight:

After Amount raised nearly $100 million in venture capital last year — giving it a $1 billion valuation — the fintech said the funding would be partly used to pursue acquisition opportunities to add new products or features. The purchase of Linear gives Amount the opportunity to integrate that fintech's business loan technology.

Amount, which assists retail banks in digitizing account opening, loan origination and offering buy now-pay later financing, works with TD Bank and Regions Financial, among others. Linear's digital account origination and insights platform counts American Express, Citizens Bank and PNC Bank as clients, according to the news release.

The purchase offered an "opportunity to pair Amount’s consumer banking solution and buy now-pay later technology with Linear’s small business banking solutions," to help financial institutions streamline business processes, Amount CEO Adam Hughes said in the news release. 

"We are always looking for ways to be that one-stop-shop platform for banks," Hughes told American Banker. Bringing together Amount's and Linear's offerings "makes [Amount] an extremely attractive partner for a bank looking to digitize." 

Graziano said they see a prime opportunity with the combined company since they’ve observed "a desire for our bank clients to simplify their vendor portfolios and build deeper relationships with the ones they trust."  

With the acquisition, Amount plans to expand its product set, including its retail banking suite and its offerings in business-to-consumer and business-to-business point-of-sale, fraud detection and embedded finance, according to the release. 

Amount’s clients include financial institutions collectively managing more than $3 trillion in U.S. assets. In October, Amount paired up with Marqeta, introducing a virtual card and loan origination partnership that helps banks enter the BNPL space.

The Amount-Linear transaction adds to the start of deal-making this year. Last month, Schaumburg, Illinois-based global payment platform NMI acquired payments software firm IRIS and JPMorgan bought a 49% stake in Greek fintech Viva Wallets, kicking off what could be another busy year for payments deals. In 2021, more than $50 billion in acquisitions were announced by firms in the payments space.