American Express said on Monday it would buy fintech lender and platform Kabbage in a move aimed at bolstering its cash management offering to small businesses. Backed by investors including SoftBank Group, Kabbage started out in 2009 as an online lender, although it has since broadened its offering into other financial services for small businesses. Kabbage's platform uses machine learning algorithms to assess and loan out money to small business owners, Amex says it has “millions” of small business customers and the addition of Kabbage’s loan and other financial services tools signifies that it plans to double down on that sector with a much wider range of offerings. Amex’s acquisition, tellingly, will include employees, technology and financial data, but “Kabbage’s pre-existing loan portfolio is not included in the purchase agreement,” Amex noted in its press release.

More information can be found at https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/17/amex-acquires-softbank-backed-kabbage-after-tough-2020-for-the-smb-lender/