Curve (also known as the Curve card) is a

payment card Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and ma ...

that aggregates multiple payment cards through its accompanying

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on ...

, allowing a user to make payments and withdrawals from a single card. It lets you "switch the bank card you paid with after each transaction is complete."Paul Sawers, July 3, 201
Back in time: Curve lets you switch the bank card you paid with after each transaction is complete

VentureBeat ''VentureBeat'' is an American technology website headquartered in San Francisco, California. It publishes news, analysis, long-form features, interviews, and videos. History The ''VentureBeat'' company was founded in 2006 by Matt Marshall, ...

History

Curve, which owns and operates the card and for which the card is named, was founded in 2015 by Shachar Bialick. The company secured seed funding of $2 million in December 2015. An

open beta A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

users in the "business community" was launched in February 2016. In May 2016, Curve notified customers that it would no longer be able to support

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

after 31 May 2016, offering refunds.Kadhim Shubber, May 25, 201
It’s no fun when Amex throws your startup a Curve ball
''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'' In December 2016, Curve announced that the app was made available for Android users. At Wired Money in 2017, Curve was judged the winning startup by a panel of three judges.Bonnie Christian, June 11, 201
Meet the next generation of fintech startups set to revolutionise the world of finance
''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'' In July 2017, it was still in beta testing.Jemima Kelly, Anna Irrera, July 3, 201
UK startup Curve launches 'financial time travel'
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

'' It launched in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in January 2018. At that time, it remained based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. When it launched in the UK, it had a waiting list of 50,000.Charlie Taylor, January 17, 201
’Connected finance’ start-up Curve launches services in Ireland
''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' Curve went live in the UK in January 2018.Jon Fingas, January 1, 201
Curve's payment-switching smart card goes live in the UK
''

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editor ...

'' In December 2018, it had a US expansion planned.Oliver Smith, December 6, 201
Curve Hits 300,000 Users With U.S. Expansion Planned, But This All-In-One Card Is Still Too Clever For Its Own Good
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' Support for American Express was reintroduced in late January 2019 on a top-up basis.Steve O'Hear, January 201
Curve, the all-your-cards-in-one app, adds support for Amex
''

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximat ...

'' When Amex blocked several thousand customers from using Curve's services that week, on February 1, 2019, it was reported that Curve was considering suing Amex,Nikou Asgari and Martin Coulter, February 1, 201
Fintech firm Curve threatens Amex with legal action
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'' alleging anti-competitive action.Steve O'Hear, January 201
Amex blocks Curve as the fintech startup vows to fight 'anti-competititive' decision
''

'' In 2019, Curve launched a metal card. The card was made of 18 grammes of stainless steel, and came in three colours: Blue Steel, Rose Gold, and Curve Red Limited Edition. Only 5,000 Limited-Edition Curve Red cards were printed in a single run.

Curve card and app

Using the mobile app, users link their

debit Debits and credits in double-entry bookkeeping are entries made in account ledgers to record changes in value resulting from business transactions. A debit entry in an account represents a transfer of value ''to'' that account, and a credit e ...

and

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

s to the Curve card. A default card from which to make payments or withdrawals can then be set, while users can also switch between cards on the app prior to making payments or withdrawals. Transactions on the card are processed through the MasterCard network and can be made using

EMV EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for " Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created th ...

(chip),

magnetic stripe The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...

contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC, e.g. Samsung P ...

. The Curve app works for iOSLewis Painter, April 5, 201
Curve Card review: An interesting Apple Pay alternative
''

MacWorld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macin ...

'' and Android. In July 2017, Curve rolled out a feature on the app allowing users to retroactively change their selected payment card for a transaction as old as 14 days. In 2018, it added a "zero fees" feature for spending internationally.Steve O'Hea
Curve, the all-your-cards-in-one app, adds 'zero fees' when spending abroad
''

'' In October 2018, the company said it was aiming to become "the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

of banking."Arjun Kharpal, October 5, 201
Fintech firm Curve looking to raise $50 million to become the ‘Amazon of banking’
''

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sh ...

'' For a time from January 2019 Curve supported

, but this was later discontinued. In September 2021, Curve launched a new Buy Now Pay Later feature branded Curve Flex.

Controversy

In November 2019, ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...

'' reported Curve had failed to disclose to crowdfund investors that just 14% of its customers were using Curve once a month or more; Curve had raised more than $7 million through

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance. In 2015, over was rais ...

in September 2019. According to the article, only 72,000 of Curve's stated 500,000 customers were using its product even once a month. The company did not respond when approached by ''Business Insider'' for comment. The issue was reported in Wikipedia's ''Curve (payment card)'' article, ''Controversy'' section (this section) on 28 November 2019, but the section was blanked on 2 and 3 December 2019, and fully reinstated with additions on 9 February 2020. ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' reported that day that Curve was accused of removing details of the ''Business Insider'' story from the Wikipedia article.

References

{{Credit cards Payment cards Products introduced in 2015