Highnote Named to Forbes Fintech 50 for Second Consecutive Year
Highnote, the unified platform for modern issuing, acquiring, credit, ledger, and money movement, has been named to the Forbes Fintech 50 for the second year in a row. The annual list highlights the most influential and innovative private fintech companies shaping the future of finance.
“We built Highnote on the belief that the future of fintech is flexible, intuitive, and designed around the needs of each business,” said John MacIlwaine, CEO of Highnote. “Companies want the ability to launch quickly, differentiate their financial experiences, and evolve without limits. Our platform gives them that foundation, and this recognition from Forbes reinforces the momentum we’re seeing as more enterprises choose Highnote to power what comes next.”
The announcement follows a year of significant growth, including platform expansion, new product launches, and enterprise adoption across Highnote’s unified embedded finance platform.
In January 2025, Highnote completed a $100 million Series B financing round, later extended by an additional $25 million from existing investors, reflecting strong confidence in the company’s trajectory. During this period, Highnote expanded into U.S. merchant acquiring, enabling customers to manage pay-ins and pay-outs on a single platform alongside issuing and credit programs.
Adoption of acquiring scaled rapidly. Netevia expanded its use of Highnote’s platform, committing billions in annual acquiring volume, signaling strong market demand for a unified financial stack.
Highnote also launched Instant Payments, enabling real-time, programmable money movement via Visa Direct, Mastercard Move, RTP, and FedNow. Ferry became the first subscriber to bring Instant Payments live, validating the platform’s real-time disbursement capabilities.
Additional 2025 innovations include 24/7 Stablecoin Funding with BVNK, stablecoin settlement for enterprise payments with Cross River Bank and Visa, and expanded integrated credit funding through OatFi, offering embedded funding options within Highnote-powered credit programs. Subscriber momentum also grew, with Splitit expanding its use of Highnote to unify issuing and acquiring in its installment and merchant programs.
Highnote’s unified architecture combines issuing, acquiring, credit, money movement, and a fully integrated real-time ledger, providing customers centralized control, faster launch timelines, and end-to-end financial visibility.