- CRB Group, the parent company of Cross River Bank, has agreed to acquire customer loyalty platform Accrue for an undisclosed amount.
- The acquisition will integrate Accrue’s branded wallet technology into Cross River’s banking infrastructure, enabling merchants to offer payments, rewards, stored value, and loyalty capabilities in a single experience.
- The deal reflects the growing convergence of payments and loyalty, helping brands deepen customer relationships and keep more financial activity within their own ecosystems.
The parent company of Cross River Bank, CRB Group, has agreed to acquire customer loyalty provider Accrue. While Cross River did not disclose the acquisition amount, the bank did express that the purchase will help it continue to expand its embedded finance offerings.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Founded in 2021, Accrue powers modern customer loyalty at the payment layer. Its branded wallet platform enables merchants to connect stored value, payments, rewards, and customer engagement in one experience. The New York-based company aims to turn one-time transactions into repeat business using branded debit cards, payments-led loyalty, and store credit refunds.
“I started Accrue with the belief that financial products would increasingly live inside the brands and experiences customers use every day,” said Accrue Founder and CEO Michael Hershfield. “Accrue brings that to life by embedding wallets, payments, stored value, and rewards directly into the merchant experience. Cross River shares that vision, and with its technology, scale, and global reach, we can take it much further.”
Cross River was founded in 2008 to bring scalable, embedded payments, cards, lending, and crypto solutions to businesses and consumers. The bank is known for its API-driven banking core and regulatory expertise. Because it owns its infrastructure, Cross River reduces the risk and compliance gaps that come with bringing on third-party systems. The bank anticipates that Accrue will strengthen its technology stack and enable partners to offer branded wallets and financial products to their customers. Accrue’s team, including Hershfield, will join Cross River.
“Payments and loyalty are becoming one,” said Cross River Founder and CEO Gilles Gade. “Every brand wants its own wallet, and with Accrue, all of our clients can now build one on our platform. We never stop innovating, and we are excited to work with Michael Hershfield and his team to help our clients build the financial super apps of the future.”
The next era of embedded finance will increasingly bring together payments, loyalty, and customer engagement. Integrating Accrue’s wallet technology into Cross River’s banking infrastructure will put the bank into a position to help brands move beyond simply accepting payments to building deeper, ongoing relationships with their customers. Downstream, the deal will help merchants keep more transactions, rewards, and stored value within their own ecosystems, rather than relying on third-party platforms to manage those interactions.
Photo by Ann H
