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Rewards cards targeting homeowners and would-be homeowners are all the rage, with Austin, Texas-based startup Mesa the latest to join the fray with $7.2 million in seed funding and a strategic partnership with credit card giant Visa.
In addition to the Mesa Homeowners Card, which lets holders earn points on mortgage payments, HOA fees, repairs, insurance and other goods and services, Mesa says it will operate a mortgage marketplace — a lead generation service for lenders and mortgage brokers where borrowers can earn rewards points equal to 1 percent of the mortgage they take out.
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Mesa, which came out of stealth mode Tuesday, calls the marketplace “a new credit card style membership experience for a mortgage product.”
Kelley Halpin
“Other businesses vie for your loyalty by giving you something back,” Mesa co-founder and CEO Kelley Halpin posted on LinkedIn. “Buy a lot of coffee at Starbucks, get one for free. Fly Delta enough, get an upgrade. Book a hotel with Marriott, earn points to spend. But the one thing you spend the most on – your home and all that comes with it? No one rewards that. But that’s about to change.”
Halpin, a former Uber operations manager and founder and CEO of Quantivize Health, said Mesa rewards points will be redeemable “at partner brands, used to book travel, or reinvested back into your home by paying down your outstanding mortgage balance or applying Mesa points towards a down payment.”
But Mesa won’t have the housing-related rewards card space to itself.
Rocket Companies last year launched a rewards card that incentivizes first-time homebuyers to choose Rocket Mortgage when financing their home, letting them earn rewards points on credit card purchases that can be redeemed to cover up to $8,000 in down payment and closing costs.
And Wells Fargo is hoping to boost its mortgage lending through a partnership with Bilt Technologies Inc. on a rewards card that lets renters avoid convenience fees and earn rewards points when they charge their rent payments to the card.
Aven Financial, a San Francisco-based tech company that offers homeowners low rates on a credit card backed by their home equity, boasts an advisory board that includes former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chief executives Tim Mayopoulos and Michael DeVito.
Figure Technologies Inc., founded in 2018 by SoFi veteran Mike Cagney, is partnered with a growing number of mortgage lenders and claims to be the nation’s largest non-bank provider of home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
But Mesa’s backers — which include Streamlined Ventures, Starting Line, Assurant Ventures, Vera Equity, Redwood Trust Horizons, Clocktower Ventures and several other firms — like its odds of carving out a space for itself.
In addition to the $7.2 million in seed funding led by Streamlined Ventures, Mesa landed $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank.
And then there’s that strategic partnership with Visa.
Erin Pursell
“Our strategic partnership with Mesa leverages Visa’s digital payment capabilities to introduce options for homeowners that aim to help relieve the costs of homeownership,” Visa executive Erin Pursell said, in a statement. “We are facilitating an experience that includes home-oriented rewards, enhancing the value of homeownership. Our collaboration with Mesa further underscores Visa’s position as an innovative leader in payment solutions and brings us closer to our mission of empowering ‘everyone, everywhere’.”
Mesa ’s executive team has plenty of experience in the world of credit cards and finance.
Peyton Hayslette
Formerly the head of fintech product at Paceline, Mesa co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Peyton Hayslette is credited with bringing the Paceline Visa Signature Card to market.
Tina Moore
Tina Moore, general manager and head of card and rewards, is a former American Express executive who was a member of Bilt’s founding team.
Shannon Cusick
Before joining Mesa’s founding team as head of partnerships, Shannon Cusick led business development at Peloton and Spotify’s podcast vertical, and also worked at American Express.
Nadia Asoyan
Mesa’s Chief Financial Officer, Nadia Asoyan, held the same title at bitcoin app Strike and was the first finance hire at Robinhood, where she served as head of finance and strategy.
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