Stripe Issuing Supports Home Equity Card for Home Owners

The Better Home Equity Card has been officially launched by Better, a New York-based fintech company that has funded US$110bn in loan volume.

Built on Stripe Issuing and Treasury – part of the global payment processor’s embedded finance platform – the card allows homeowners to immediately spend funds drawn from their Better Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC).

The launch aims to bridge the gap between massive home equity reserves and the rising tide of high-interest consumer debt. 

According to a report from TransUnion, US homeowners collectively hold US$21.4tn in home equity, with more than 85 million individuals sitting on a median of US$276,000 in available capital. 

Despite this, non-mortgage consumer debt has climbed to US$857bn nationwide, says Better Mortgage.

Many homeowners continue to use traditional, high-interest credit cards for projects that their home equity could easily cover.

“Homeowners are reaching for a credit card to pay for a kitchen renovation or backyard upgrade because the tools to access their equity haven’t evolved,” notes Vishal Garg, CEO and Founder of Better. 

“We've built the Better Home Equity Card to fix that.”

Modernising the HELOC model

The card functions as a prepaid debit card rather than a traditional credit card. Instead of drawing from an unsecured revolving balance, it provides direct access to funds secured by a HELOC. 

Once funds are approved, they are deposited into a Better-branded financial account powered by Stripe and linked to a Better Mastercard.

This digital-first approach eliminates the disbursement delays often associated with traditional home equity products. 

By providing immediate access to capital, the fintech avoids the friction of manual transfers or juggling multiple payment methods. 

Furthermore, cardholders earn 1% cashback on eligible purchases – a rewards feature rarely found in the standard HELOC market.

Better utilises Stripe’s comprehensive money management suite to handle card issuing, account management and compliance infrastructure. 

This allows homeowners to pay contractors and purchase materials as work progresses through a seamless interface.

Integrated finance and spending

Beyond simple transactions, the product introduces a level of automated record-keeping. Eligible home improvement purchases are automatically organised into Home Base, a live cost-basis tracker. 

This tool helps homeowners maintain detailed records that may prove essential for future refinancing or a property sale.

By building on Stripe Issuing and Treasury, the card connects financing, spending and record-keeping into a single integrated system. 

It treats the access to and the use of capital as a single journey rather than two fragmented steps.

“Banks have known for years that homeowners were overpaying for credit cards when they had equity sitting right there,” Vishal explains.

“This card gives them a smarter way to put that equity to work.”

The introduction of the Home Equity Card represents a significant expansion of Better’s AI-native mortgage platform. 

By moving into the embedded finance space, the company is positioning itself as more than just an originator, but as a holistic manager of home-based wealth.

The Better Home Prepaid Debit Cards are issued by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC.