Fintech CAC and the Great Credit Card Craze

Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between.
Today we’re getting two items out of my notebook while sticking to our recent fintech theme (Q1 fintech VC results here and more on investing patterns into the category here). Let’s chat about fintech customer acquisition costs and the rise of card-focused plays inside of the category.

For a little context: I’ve been hunting down a story on rising fintech customer acquisition costs (CAC) for what feels like a year. After a host of calls and chats on the topic, I’m admitting defeat. Details below, but I’m excited to cross the topic off my to-do list.

Regarding cards, I’ve spoken to both the CEOs of Brex and Ramp in recent weeks and corresponded a bit with Coinbase. So let’s chat interchange a little bit as well. Today is a fintech grab-bag, and we’re all going to be better for it. Onward!