Kudos wins $7M for credit card rewards extension

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Exclusive Kudos raises $7M for credit card rewards extension

, author of Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/AxiosExit Content Preview Kudos, a credit card rewards browser extension that plans to launch a one-click checkout product, raised $7 million in seed funding, the company tells Axios exclusively. Why it matters: American adults average , creating a messy patchwork of reward programs to track manually. Kudos automates the process. Details: Patron led the round, joined by QED Investors, SciFi VC, SV Angel, Precursor Ventures, Newtype Ventures, and Chingona Ventures. How it works: Kudos' free extension nudges users to their card with the best benefits for a specific online purchase, whether it be cash back, travel points, travel insurance, or an extended warranty.Kudos earns revenue by referring customers to new credit cards based on purchase history. For example, if a consumer travels frequently, Kudos might recommend one that accrues airline points. Kudos also plans to earn revenue from merchant partnerships that will allow it to offer additional direct rewards. Flashback: Kudos' business has echoes of discount browser plugin, Honey, which PayPal acquired for $4 billion . Zoom out: Venture capital interest in one-click checkout cooled after the high-profile blowup of Stripe-backed Fast. But Kudos founder Tikue Anazodo doesn't think the space is dead. Previously employed at Google Pay and at Affirm, Anazodo is working on a prototype likely to launch in the next year. Kudos plans to attract customers with its browser extension, creating an incentive for merchants to adopt its upcoming one-click checkout product.Kudos currently autofills credit card information. The bottom line: Interest in one-click checkout itself lives on when combined with other businesses.Notably, BNPL is effectively lending with one-click checkout.

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