Investing in Method: Building the Infrastructure for Consumer Debt Innovation

Consumer debt in America has reached staggering proportions. With over $20 trillion in consumer liabilities spread across mortgages, student loans, credit cards, and other debt products, the average American's financial life has become a complex web of obligations. Behind these numbers lies a deeper challenge: the infrastructure for managing, understanding, and optimizing these debts remains surprisingly antiquated.

This is why we're excited to announce Emergence Capital's investment in Method, leading their $42M Series B round alongside existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, and Ardent Ventures.

The Debt Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight

The statistics are sobering. The average American carries four credit cards. Credit card balances alone have surpassed $1 trillion. Student loan debt exceeds $1.7 trillion. Beyond these headline numbers, there's a more nuanced story about how fragmented and friction-filled the debt management landscape has become.

For consumers, managing multiple debt accounts across different institutions is a cumbersome process. For businesses trying to help these consumers – whether through debt consolidation, refinancing, or financial planning – the technical infrastructure to access and act on debt data has been a major impediment to innovation.

Method's Revolutionary Approach

Method is transforming this landscape through a deceptively simple innovation: making it effortless and secure for consumers to connect and manage their debt accounts. Their platform provides real-time access to liabilities data and payment functionality through a single, secure system that puts consumers in control of their financial data.

What makes Method special is their magical end-user experience, built on a foundation of rigorous security and compliance. If you've ever connected your debt accounts on platforms like Bilt Rewards, Figure, SoFi, or Aven, you've likely experienced Method's seamless connectivity working behind the scenes. Instead of the traditional process of connecting accounts one by one – each requiring separate credentials and authentication steps – Method has reimagined this entire flow while ensuring that consumers maintain complete control over their data and how it's used.

The company offers four core capabilities that are reshaping how businesses help consumers manage debt:

• Instant access to comprehensive debt profiles

• Real-time transaction tracking

• Seamless debt payment initiation

• Simplified balance transfers

Why Now?

Over the past 15 years, we've witnessed an explosion of consumer fintech innovation that has transformed how people manage their money. Yet as these fintechs – and increasingly, traditional financial institutions – strive to deliver better customer experiences, they've hit a critical limitation: the lack of comprehensive visibility into consumer liabilities data. Without this foundational piece, even the most innovative financial products can't fully deliver on their promise to help consumers optimize their financial lives.

The timing for Method's approach is particularly compelling. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently adopted open banking rule, which requires banks to make consumer financial data accessible via APIs, signals a shift toward more open and efficient financial infrastructure. Method is ahead of this curve, having already built the connectivity and user experience that the industry is moving toward – with security and consumer data protection at its core.

Moreover, in today's high-interest-rate environment, consumers are actively seeking ways to optimize their debt. Financial institutions and fintech companies are responding with innovative products, but they need better infrastructure to deliver these solutions effectively. Method provides exactly this infrastructure, enabling both emerging fintechs and established institutions to build the next generation of financial products.

The Road Ahead

Method's vision extends beyond just connecting debt data – they're building the fundamental infrastructure that will enable the next generation of consumer debt innovation. By making it radically easier and more secure for businesses to help consumers understand and optimize their debt, Method is enabling a new wave of financial products that can meaningfully impact consumer financial health.

The company has shown remarkable momentum, rapidly expanding its customer base and continuously enhancing its platform capabilities. This Series B funding will accelerate Method's mission, allowing them to expand their product offerings, deepen relationships with financial institutions, and scale their platform to meet growing demand. As the consumer debt landscape continues to evolve, we believe Method will play a crucial role in enabling businesses to build better solutions for debt management.

We're thrilled to partner with Jose Bethancourt, Mit Shah, Marco del Carmen, and the entire Method team as they transform how businesses help consumers navigate their financial lives.

To learn more about Method and their mission to revolutionize debt infrastructure, visit methodfi.com.

Method is growing rapidly and hiring across all departments. If you're passionate about building the future of consumer financial infrastructure, check out their open roles at methodfi.com/careers.