Affiniti Teams With Column to Scale SMB Card Offering

Small business-focused platform Affiniti launched a financing agreement with Column bank, according to a Monday (March 9) press release.

The agreement will see Column provide financing to boost the growth of Affini’s small- to medium-sized business (SMB) customers, per the release. The partnership establishes funding to help expand Affiniti’s card product as it adds new product lines, such as banking and bill pay, to its platform.

“Affiniti is building an all-in-one financial platform for backbone SMBs, where banking, payments and spend management come together with AI-powered automation that helps businesses operate more efficiently every day,” Affiniti co-founder and CEO Aaron Bai said in the release. “Partnering with Column strengthens our ability to scale our card offering and accelerate our mission of delivering modern financial infrastructure to underserved industries.”

Column is one of the only nationally chartered banks designed to help companies develop and fund new financial products, according to the release. The bank offers direct, “bare-metal access” to payment rails and lending programs through its API platform.

“That technical foundation makes Column a natural fit for Affiniti as it scales its technology platform,” the release said.

Meanwhile, business credit cards have begun to address the pressure that has kept SMBs using paper currency.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Ready for Change: Why Nearly Half of SMBs Want to Ditch Cash and Checks” found that cash use skews younger, with Generation Z owners and operators making 52% of their business payments that way.

Meanwhile, SMBs in operation for at least 20 years said they make 54% of their payments by check. This trend is pronounced among baby boomer owners, professional services firms and construction or utilities companies.

“In these segments, check-based invoicing, approvals and recordkeeping form part of established business-to-business workflows,” PYMNTS reported Friday (March 6).

Still, 45% of SMBs said they are “highly interested” in reducing their dependence on cash, although businesses said there are several barriers to them embracing cards. A quarter of SMBs surveyed said the cost and fees tied to cards and digital technologies are obstacles to lessening their cash reliance.

“Cards must replicate what cash does well, including immediacy and simplicity, while adding liquidity flexibility, dispute protection and visibility into spending,” the Friday report said.