Primacy Rewards
An embedded loyalty engine for credit unions and community banks
For my business management capstone at Western Governors University, I wrote a complete business plan for a hypothetical business-to-business (B2B) fintech startup. Primacy Rewards sells a white-label rewards engine that a credit union or community bank embeds in its own online and mobile banking. The name comes from the industry term for being a member’s primary financial institution, which is the outcome every client pays for. This page is the portfolio version of that plan, and it goes further than what I submitted.
- PROJECT
- WGU QGT1 business management capstone
- ROLE
- Sole author of the business plan and financial model. In the plan, I am the founding CEO.
- AWARD
- WGU Excellence Award, Business Management Capstone Written Project (November 2026)
- SKILLS
- Product Management, Product Marketing, Market Sizing, Competitive Benchmarking, Pricing and Packaging, Financial Modeling, Fundraising and Capital Planning, Go-to-Market Strategy, KPI Design, Loyalty and Rewards Design, Banking Regulation and Vendor Risk, Claude, Lovable
- STATUS
- Hypothetical company, portfolio version
- REVIEW
- Last reviewed November 8, 2026
Can a credit union compete on rewards without building a rewards company?
Large banks fund rewards from scale and build their programs in-house. Smaller institutions can do neither, yet they lose the same members to the same cards and apps. I wanted to know whether a startup could give them a competitive program funded by merchants, at a price they can afford, and survive long enough to prove it.
Each point is worked through in the sections that follow, with sources at the end.
The problem
The everyday relationshipSmaller institutions are losing the everyday relationship. Their members still trust them, but they carry someone else's card, and their paychecks earn little where they land. Large banks build their own rewards programs. IBISWorld puts it directly: smaller banks, such as community banks and credit unions, “often lack the financial muscle to do this, creating a unique demand niche for industry companies.”
A 21-point gap.
Source · PYMNTS Intelligence
Share of income Americans deposit into checking.
Share of Americans who get meaningful rewards from checking.
Source · Chime
Of consumers whose primary institution is a credit union say cash back and rewards influence their card choice.
Source · PYMNTS Intelligence
Of Americans would cancel or downgrade a credit card if their checking account offered comparable rewards.
Source · Chime
The industry
Primacy Rewards sits in card reward program services. The industry is mature and growing slowly, with high competition and low barriers to entry. Bank reward solutions are its largest product segment, and financial institutions already make up almost a fifth of its revenue.
4.1% annual growth from 2021 to 2026, 2.1% a year forecast to 2031.
Source · IBISWorld
Profit margin
Businesses
Largest company
Show more: industry milestones
The pattern in the historyRewards moved from airlines, to card issuers, to merchant offers inside bank apps. Durbin pushed large banks out of debit rewards and left that ground to smaller institutions.
Sources · IBISWorld and the history sources in Methodology and sources
What it means for PrimacyThe bank segment is large but crowded, so Primacy has to win on member experience.
Target market
The buyer is the institution, and members are the end users. Inside each institution, the decision makers are the chief executive officer (CEO), the head of marketing, and the head of digital banking. The core customer is a community bank or a credit union with more than $100 million in assets, and 5,594 institutions* in the United States fit that profile. Credit unions below that line may not be able to afford the $30,000 starting price, which takes 2,438 of them out of the core market at launch. An average credit union under $100 million in assets earns about $130,000 a year, so the $30,000 Tier 1 price would take about 23% of its profit. From year two, a $500-a-month Starter tier brings them in at about 4.6% of that profit. I launch in Central Texas, near the Austin office, then expand statewide and nationwide. Austin's University Federal Credit Union (UFCU) and A+ Federal Credit Union and San Antonio's Broadway National Bank show the kind of institution I mean. Those names are examples only, not clients or partners.
* Institution counts are as of June 30, 2026, and may be lower today. .
4,214 credit unions and 3,818 community banks
Excluding 2,438 credit unions under $100M at launch
0.98% of the core market, by year five
Why sales is the limitEven 55 core clients by year five would be under 1% of the core market, so growth is limited by sales, not by market size. The rollout starts with one pilot in Central Texas and expands statewide, then nationwide.
Yearly platform fees across all 8,032 institutions: $167.8M from the core market at Tier 1, plus $14.6M from 2,438 small credit unions at the Starter price.
Across the 5,594 core institutions, at the Tier 1 price of $30,000 a year, before merchant commissions.
Signed by March 31, 2029, covered in the launch plan.
Federally insured credit unions alone serve 146.1 million members, according to the NCUA.
How it works
Who pays for whatMembers earn one points currency nine ways and redeem it three ways, all inside their own institution's app, with micro-investing planned as a fourth. Merchants and travel partners fund two of the earning paths through commissions. The institution funds the other seven, because direct deposits, bill pay, and on-time payments are the habits it wants more of. Pricing those points is one of the first things the pilot would test. Each way to redeem either keeps money at the institution or protects a perk members care about, like hotel points.
Nine ways to earn, one balance, three ways to redeem today.
- Card purchases at participating merchants
- Hotel and flight bookings in the travel portal
- Paychecks by direct deposit and new money moved in from other banks
- Bills moved to the institution’s bill pay
- Money goal challenges
- On-time loan payments
- Account anniversaries
- Referrals that lead to a direct deposit
- Bonus points at higher membership levelsGrowth package
- Cash to savingsSavings boostLands in the member’s own savings, so rewards become deposits, boosted 10% by default. The goal is at least half of all redeemed points.
- Erase a recent purchaseA statement credit on the institution’s own card, paid with points. Value stays at the institution.
- Loyalty-eligible travelMembers keep hotel points and elite night credit, which many portal bookings lose.
- Micro-investingPlannedRuns through the institution’s existing investment partner, so the money stays in the relationship.
Money goal challenges
Payday savings streak
Move a set amount to savings each payday. A missed week pauses the streak instead of wiping it.
Round-up saving
Round each card purchase up to the next dollar and move the change to savings.
Emergency fund milestone
Earn points at each step toward a savings cushion the member sets.
Budget goal
Stay under a spending limit the member sets for a category, like dining out.
Paying the institution’s own credit card in full
Pay the statement balance by the due date, so no interest builds.
Trip savings goal
Save toward a trip, then book it with loyalty-eligible travel.
Show more: the full challenge library, 18 challenges
- Payday savings streak Move a set amount to savings each payday.
- Round-up saving Round each card purchase up and save the change.
- Emergency fund milestone Earn points at each step toward a cushion the member sets.
- Trip savings goal Save toward a trip, then book it with loyalty-eligible travel.
- 52-week challenge Save $1 the first week, $2 the next, up to $52, for $1,378 in a year.
- Holiday savings fund Set aside part of each paycheck for holiday spending, the classic credit union club account.
- Tax refund saver Move part of a tax refund into savings.
- Savings step-up Raise an automatic savings transfer.
- Keep it saved Hold savings above a set balance for 90 days.
- Budget goal Stay under a spending limit the member sets for a category.
- Spend less, save the difference Spend under the usual amount at a store type, and the gap moves to savings.
- Guilty pleasure saver Each time the member buys a chosen treat, a set amount moves to savings.
- Subscription swap Cancel an unused subscription and send its cost to savings.
- No-spend weekend Skip nonessential purchases for a weekend.
- Paying the institution’s own credit card in full Pay the statement balance by the due date, so no interest builds.
- Extra loan payment Pay extra on an existing loan at the institution.
- Money lesson Finish a short lesson in the app.
- Security check Turn on account alerts and two-step login.
Each institution chooses which challenges to run, how often they repeat, and how many points each one pays, within a monthly points budget it sets. Artificial intelligence (AI) suggests challenges sized to each member’s habits, but only from that approved library. Primacy’s model does not count these points, since the institution pays for them.
Why members stay
Speed is part of the productShopping portals make members wait months, because they cannot pay until the merchant pays them. Primacy Rewards advances shopping points as soon as the institution sees the card transaction, and challenge points post the same day.
The cost of paying fastAdvancing points is not free. Primacy carries the float until the merchant pays, and a return reverses the points, even after they are redeemed. New accounts start with lower advance limits that rise with account history, which keeps that risk small.
Source · Rove help center, Frequent Miler, and Unit's Kard documentation
Primacy's 0 to 5 days is a design target, not a measured result.
Every challenge and redemption follows these rules.
- No games of chance, no spin wheels or mystery boxes
- No points for opening credit or taking a loan
- No fees for members, ever
- Savings moves keep a safety buffer so a streak never causes an overdraft
- A missed week pauses a streak instead of wiping it
- The AI never sees names or account numbers and cannot move money
- Extra verification before redemptions
- Automatic reversal on returns
- Referral points only after a direct deposit
Retention has to be earnedPoints do not expire while the account is open, and members can cash out every settled point before closing it, so leaving carries no penalty.
Where it wins
Why entering late can still workI am entering late, but the timing works in my favor. Citi's deal to buy Kard leaves smaller institutions looking for a rewards vendor that no large bank owns, and Fiserv and FIS treat rewards as an add-on to card processing. Primacy competes on member experience, with faster payouts and rewards that land in savings. A 50% pilot discount and a focus on nearby Texas institutions are how I win the first references.
Strengths
- Rewards that build deposits.
Cash to savings lands rewards in the member's own account, and challenges reward saving and on-time payments.
- Faster reward payouts.
Points are usable within days, compared with 30 to 100 days for shopping portals.
- Status-safe travel rewards.
Hotels are booked at loyalty-eligible rates, so members keep their hotel points and elite credit.
Weaknesses
- Late entrant with no clients.
Kard, Prizeout, Fiserv, and FIS already have clients and merchant networks.
- Reliance on merchant offers.
Commission revenue depends on merchants funding offers, and early offers come through outside networks.
- Long vendor reviews before revenue.
Institutions vet every outside vendor, so security reviews and contracts come before the first dollar.
Opportunities
- Demand for checking rewards.
59% of Americans would cancel or downgrade a credit card for comparable checking rewards.
- Credit union top-of-wallet gap.
Credit union cards trail national bank cards 48% to 69% as the card members reach for first.
- High rates raise the value of each deposit.
While rates stay high, every deposit an institution keeps is worth more to it.
- An independent option.
Citi agreed in August 2026 to buy Kard, so smaller institutions may want a rewards vendor that no large bank owns.
Threats
- Established vendors and in-house programs.
Fiserv and FIS can bundle rewards with card processing institutions already buy, and barriers to entry are low.
- Tightening rules on rewards.
The proposed Credit Card Competition Act and the CFPB's action on devaluations could change how rewards are funded.
- Points fraud and misuse.
Points are worth money, so they attract account takeovers, return fraud, and fake referrals.
How rewards reach members
| Provider | How members get value | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Kard | Cash back into the deposit account | Monthly, after merchant settlement |
| Prizeout CashBack+ | Offers, actions, and card rewards combined into one cash balance in digital banking | Not stated |
| Fiserv and FIS | Rewards bundled with card processing. ScoreCard points often redeem for under a penny on merchandise, and its travel can cost more than booking direct | Not stated |
| Primacy Rewards | Cash to savings, statement credit, loyalty-eligible travel, and micro-investing later | Challenge points same day, shopping points within days |
What I borrowed, and what I leftOne cash balance inside digital banking comes from Prizeout. Card-linked offers with no codes come from Cardlytics and Kard. Erasing a past purchase with points comes from Capital One, whose Venture miles cover a travel charge within 90 days. On payout speed, I aim to beat all of them. I left out merchandise catalogs, which often redeem for under a penny, and transfers to airline partners like Rove’s 22, because both send value away from the institution.
Pricing
Institutions pay a monthly platform fee by member count and a one-time setup fee. Merchants and travel partners pay commissions. Members never pay.
Why price by member countPricing by member count keeps the bill predictable and lets larger institutions, which get more value, pay more. The Starter tier is sized to what the smallest credit unions earn. Each Starter client brings in about $613 a month, so the tier only works if digital banking platform partners handle setup and support rather than my team.
The member-count fee is the base. Services price out as add-ons on top of it, so an institution pays for what it uses and can start small.
Service add-ons
| Add-on | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Core platform | Included in the platform fee | The points engine, eight ways to earn, and three ways to redeem (cash to savings, statement credit, and loyalty-eligible travel), plus the merchant offer network and the loyalty-eligible travel partner. |
| Implementation and onboarding | $10,000 one time, or $2,500 for a self-serve Starter setup | Setup, digital banking integration, security review support, and the co-branded member launch kit. |
| Growth package | 20% of the platform fee from year two ($500, $1,000, or $1,600 a month by tier) | The membership levels module, which adds bonus points as the ninth way to earn. |
| Premium package | 40% of the platform fee from year two, Tier 2 and Tier 3 ($2,000 or $3,200 a month) | The micro-investing extension and dedicated success support, with one success manager for every 4 Premium clients instead of 9. |
| Pilot discount | 50% off the platform fee for the first six months | Keeps the first launch small and gives the pilot a case study price. |
Why members get 65%Members get most of each commission so the rewards can compete with shopping portals. The 35% share pays for advancing points and running the merchant network.
Travel booking commissions split the same way.
A pilot credit union with 191,614 members falls in Tier 2. It pays $2,500 a month during the six-month pilot, then $5,000 a month, plus the $10,000 setup fee. Adding membership levels in year two would add $1,000 a month, and the Premium package another $2,000.
Institutions can also boost rewards moved to savings. They set the boost, 10% by default and up to 25%, and they pay for it. At 10%, the pilot’s boost would cost about $778 a month, or $9,336 a year.
The launch plan
The plan has three phases. Form and fund the company, build the platform and pass a credit union security review, then launch with one pilot credit union. One pilot keeps the first launch small and gives me a case study for every sale after it.
Borrowed from RampAhead of the pilot, I would borrow an approach from Ramp. Before launching their first card, Eric Glyman and co-founder Karim Atiyeh sat down with around 100 finance experts and entrepreneurs, according to Bloomberg. I would do the same with credit union and community bank executives. That kind of expert research costs money, so it belongs in the funded phase of the plan.
Each step names its owner. Where a step says CEO, that is my role.
Passing the security reviewI would build the security program on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, the framework bank regulators point to, and earn a System and Organization Controls (SOC 2) Type I report before the pilot, then a Type II within the first year. Card-linked offers run on tokens, so Primacy never stores full card numbers, which keeps most of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) out of scope. Primacy keeps only the points ledger, matched purchases, and 90 days of raw transactions for returns, then deletes the rest.
Three co-founders own 34%, 33%, and 33% of the founders’ stake. I am the CEO, holding the 34%, with a chief technology officer (CTO) and a Head of Partnerships holding 33% each. After the $4.0 million seed for 18%, that works out to 27.88%, 27.06%, and 27.06% of the company, with seed investors holding 18%. A Series A would dilute every owner again. Two engineers and a lawyer and accountant on retainer round out the team. The company is a Texas LLC.
Month one
The biggest cost decisionThe first month, April 2028, includes one pilot client and its one-time setup fee. Personnel is 62% of spending, so hiring pace is the biggest cost decision I control.
Recurring revenue without the setup fee is $10,883.
Show more: every expense line
Examples show the options I priced, not vendors I chose. Engineer pay uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) mean for Austin software developers, and benefits use 30%, close to the BLS private-industry rate without paid leave. The 10% contingency is my own assumption. Day-to-day spending would run on a corporate card such as Ramp or Brex. Ramp pays up to 1.5% cash back, and startup cloud credits such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) Activate's up to $200,000 are possible too, but the model leaves both out.
| Category | Expense | Amount | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel | Co-founder pay, 3 at $7,000 | $21,000 | |
| Personnel | Software engineer salaries, 2 at $12,000 | $24,000 | |
| Personnel | Payroll taxes and benefits, 30% of engineer salaries | $7,200 | |
| Sales and marketing | Marketing, including conferences, events, and LinkedIn ads | $4,477 | |
| Sales and marketing | Sales tools for 2 sellers: customer relationship management (CRM), contact data, and LinkedIn outreach | $523 | HubSpot, Apollo or Clay, LinkedIn Sales Navigator |
| Sales and marketing | Travel to client sites | $1,500 | |
| Facilities | Office rent, five-person coworking office | $3,660 | |
| Facilities | Phones | $250 | |
| Technology | Cloud hosting | $2,500 | AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure |
| Technology | Security and compliance, including the first SOC 2 audit | $5,208 | Vanta or Drata, plus an outside SOC 2 auditor and penetration tester |
| Technology | Software subscriptions | $1,000 | Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, Slack, 1Password, Webflow |
| Technology | AI tools for the team, 5 at $100 | $500 | GitHub Copilot, Cursor |
| Technology | AI model usage | $206 | Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google, directly or through the cloud provider |
| Professional services | Lawyer and accountant on retainer | $2,500 | |
| Professional services | Business insurance | $1,000 | Vouch, Embroker, Corgi |
| Contingency | 10% of operating costs, for the unexpected | $7,552 | |
| Financing | Loan interest | $417 | |
| Financing | Credit line interest on the points float | $243 | American Express, then Chase or Frost Bank |
| Total | $83,736 |
Net loss in month one.
Without the one-time setup fee, the monthly gap is $72,853. That is what the runway in Chapter 10 has to cover.
At month-one activity, each Tier 2 client at full price brings in $13,383 a month: the $5,000 platform fee plus $8,383 in commission share. About seven of them would cover today's $83,736 in expenses, before any new hires. Hiring moves that line, and the five-year scale plan in Chapter 10 shows the full path.
The model assumes 5% of the pilot’s members are active, each spending $50 at participating merchants, at an average 5% merchant commission.
Funding and runway
The rule behind the roundI sized the round so the company could survive three years even if the pilot is its only client. I raised the seed from $2.15 million to $4.0 million in steps. The first made the 36 months start at launch, not on the day the money arrives. The later ones covered security, engineer pay, benefits, recruiting, legal setup, and a 10% contingency at market rates, which stretched the runway to about 45 months. A $4.0 million seed for 18% sits close to Carta's median seed of $4.1 million at 18% dilution.
SBA microloan: 10% over 5 years, $1,062 a month.
Assets: laptops, monitors, phones, and the $314,800 platform build. Costs before launch: nine months at $48,756, including the 10% contingency, plus $26,250 one time for the Texas LLC filing, legal setup, and hiring the two engineers. Pre-launch marketing of $40,293 includes about $18,200 for the brand identity, website, and trademark filings.
Pre-money valuation
Post-money valuation
Founders keep
Starting cash at launch: $3,285,246
How the float is fundedPrimacy pays members' shopping points in days but collects merchant commissions about two months later, so cash is tied up in the gap. With half of points spent before the merchant pays, that float is $32,334 at launch, $340,350 by month 36, and $748,822 by month 60. I would fund it with credit lines instead of equity, choosing whichever offers the best rate. An American Express Business Line of Credit fits year one, since it needs one year in business. Chase or Frost Bank fits from year two, once the company has two years of history. From the day the LLC forms, Austin Capital Bank's CreditStrong Business would build the business credit those lenders check. The model charges 9% interest, the 7.00% prime rate plus 2 points.
Five-year scale plan
The runway above assumes the pilot is the only client. This is the plan as I would run it. Year one stays in Central Texas. Year two goes statewide and opens the Starter tier. Year three starts the national rollout. Years four and five keep the year-three pace.
Investors read recurring revenue two ways, so I show both. Platform annual recurring revenue (ARR) counts only the contracted platform fees. The revenue run rate adds the merchant commission share, which moves with how much members spend.
| Launch, Apr 2028 | Year one end, Mar 2029 | Year two end, Mar 2030 | Year three end, Mar 2031 | Year four end, Mar 2032 | Year five end, Mar 2033 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core clients | 1 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 40 | 55 |
| Starter clients | 0 | 0 | 10 | 40 | 70 | 100 |
| Team size | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 21 |
| Platform ARR | $30,000 | $150,000 | $480,000 | $1,290,000 | $2,100,000 | $2,910,000 |
| Revenue run rate | $130,596 | $345,732 | $903,468 | $2,348,868 | $3,794,268 | $5,239,668 |
| Monthly expenses | $83,736 | $99,528 | $159,271 | $234,722 | $304,796 | $352,689 |
| Monthly net | ($62,853) | ($60,717) | ($81,482) | ($21,483) | $26,393 | $98,950 |
| Cash on hand | $3,221,748 | $2,460,154 | $1,536,623 | $896,198 | $1,060,199 | $1,943,511 |
Recurring revenue first covers expenses in month 42, September 2031. By month 60, it is $436,639 a month against $352,689 in expenses.
| Year one | Year two | Year three | Year four | Year five | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $206,844 | $741,455 | $1,959,800 | $3,427,470 | $4,872,870 |
| Expenses | $1,021,327 | $1,646,027 | $2,580,327 | $3,242,537 | $3,969,956 |
| Net | ($814,483) | ($904,572) | ($620,527) | $184,933 | $902,914 |
Starting cash at launch: $3,285,246
How costs grow with the clients
I add people only when the client count calls for them. From the third core client on, one customer success manager covers up to 9 core clients. A third engineer joins at 10 core clients, then one more at 20 and every 20 after that. The first account executive starts in month 13 and the second in month 25. One support person covers up to 28 Starter clients. Those two ratios assume AI tools make success and support staff about 14% more productive, in line with a published study of support agents. I do not plan on fewer engineers, because the evidence that AI speeds up experienced developers is mixed.
Every hire adds 30% for payroll taxes and benefits, a $732 desk, a $2,500 laptop kit, $100 a month in AI tools, and $5,475 to recruit. Cloud, software, and AI costs grow with clients and staff. Marketing, travel, legal, insurance, and security step up each year, and sales tools grow with each account executive. Costs other than pay rise 3.7% a year with CPI, and pay rises 3.5% a year from year two, in line with what employers plan for 2027. In years four and five, marketing, travel, legal, and insurance stay at year-three levels plus CPI. Account executives earn a 10% commission on the first year of platform fees for each core client signed from month 13 on. A 10% contingency covers the unexpected, credit lines fund the points float, and the loan principal comes out of cash.
After the pilot, new core clients split about 60% Tier 1 and 40% Tier 2, matching how NCUA counts credit unions by size. Member activity stays at 5% for all five years, even though my target is 15% by month 12, because the plan should not depend on hitting its own target. Setup fees count as cash when a client signs. Growth and Premium package revenue are also left out.
What the scale plan showsYears one to three run at a loss while the client base grows, and cash bottoms out at $846,591 in month 40. From month 42 on, recurring revenue covers expenses. The company earns $184,933 in year four and $902,914 in year five, all on the seed. By month 60, recurring revenue is $436,639 a month against $352,689 in expenses. Over five years, recurring revenue grows about 40 times while expenses grow about 4.2 times, which is why I would grow at this pace. The table's monthly net also counts setup fees from new clients, so it runs a little ahead of the chart.
Seed only, or a Series AThe seed alone carries the company to profit, so a Series A is optional. I modeled one anyway. Plan B raises $7.0 million for 18% in April 2031, once the first three years have proven the model, and signs 35 core clients in year four and 50 in year five instead of 15 each. I sized it as the smallest round that keeps 12 months of expenses in the bank. Without it, the faster plan's cash would fall to $618,802 in month 42, about a month and a half of expenses.
| Plan A, seed only | Plan B, with a Series A | |
|---|---|---|
| Series A | None | $7.0 million for 18%, April 2031 |
| Core clients at month 60 | 55 | 110 |
| Starter clients at month 60 | 100 | 180 |
| Team size at month 60 | 21 | 39 |
| Platform ARR at month 60 | $2,910,000 | $5,700,000 |
| Recurring revenue first covers expenses | Month 42, September 2031 | Month 46, January 2032 |
| Year four net | $184,933 | $4,910 |
| Year five net | $902,914 | $1,485,902 |
| Cash at month 60 | $1,943,511 | $9,301,476 |
| My ownership | 27.88% | 22.86% |
Plan B ends year five about twice as big. At Carta's 18% median, the $7.0 million round would value the company at $31.89 million before the new money, almost 25 times its platform ARR. Investors may want a bigger share at that revenue, so I would run Plan A and raise only if the first three years outperform.
Show more: compare the runway scenarios
Scenario assumptions and results
| A Upside | B Base | C Inflation squeeze | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assumption | 7.5% of members active | Model as built | Costs up 3.7% with CPI, merchants cut commissions to 4%, 4% of members active |
| Month one revenue | $25,075 | $20,883 | $17,866 |
| Month one expenses | $83,736 | $83,736 | $86,816 |
| Net loss | ($58,661) | ($62,853) | ($68,950) |
| Runway | 47.8 months | 45.1 months | 41.6 months |
The scenarios move the monthly loss by about $4,000 to $6,000 in either direction. Hiring pace and new clients matter far more.
Runway here divides starting cash by the monthly operating gap. Repaying the loan principal adds $645 a month, which brings the base case to 44.7 months. The five-year scale plan includes principal, and the loan is paid off in month 60.
How I would measure it
I would review these monthly, check quality measures weekly, and bring a plan to fix any target missed two months in a row.
Share of active members with a recurring direct deposit
Owner: CEOUp 5 points by month 12. That is what primacy means for an institution.
Financial
Owner: CEO and accountant- Revenue of $20,883 in month one, then at least $10,883 recurring
- Month one expenses at or below $83,736
- At least 24 months of cash all through year one
- Recurring revenue covers expenses by September 2031
Growth
Owner: Head of Partnerships- Three clients by March 31, 2029
- Pilot converts to $5,000 a month on October 3, 2028
- 25 core clients by March 2031 and 55 by March 2033
Engagement
Owner: CEO- Active members grow from 5% to 15% by month 12
- At least 50% of redeemed points go to savings
Quality and satisfaction
Owner: CTO for quality, CEO and Head of Partnerships for satisfaction- 99.9% uptime
- Points usable in 5 days or fewer
- Fraud losses under 1% of points issued
- Members average 4 out of 5
- Clients score 8 out of 10 or higher
What comes next
The capstone version stays lean on purpose. Six extensions belong in the next version of the plan.
Micro-investing as a fourth way to redeem.
Members could move points into small investments through the investment program their institution already offers. Primacy Rewards would hand off the value, and the institution’s existing partner would hold the account, so the startup never holds member money or securities. It is the route that fits members building long-term habits, which is why I kept it in the design.
From LLC to C corporation.
The seed round fits an LLC, since angel investors can buy membership units and profits pass through to the owners. Most venture funds invest in C corporations, so converting before a Series A is the step that would open institutional funding. The model does not need a Series A, but Plan B in Chapter 10 shows what one would fund. The natural time is April 2031, with 25 core clients, $1.29 million in platform ARR, and about $896,000 in cash. Credit union investors fit best. Curql Fund II closed at $360 million in 2025, backed by more than 160 credit unions, and a CUSO round, the model Prizeout Partners uses, would bring customers along with the capital.
Offers at checkout.
Capital One Shopping applies coupon codes and compares prices as members shop online. A Primacy version would show the member’s merchant offers at checkout, which raises the commissions that fund points. It is a large build, so it comes after the core platform proves out.
Annual prepayment.
Institutions that pay a year up front would get a discount. Cash arrives early, nothing is diluted, and the credit lines carry less of the float.
Featured merchant placements.
Merchants could pay to appear first in the offer list, labeled as sponsored so members can trust the order. It stays merchant-funded, like the rest of the revenue.
Going international.
The U.S. core market is far larger than five years of sales can reach, so I would expand abroad only after the five-year plan. Canada is the natural first step, with a credit union system much like the U.S. one and $487 billion in credit union assets. Worldwide, more than 67,000 credit unions in 101 countries serve about 412.6 million members, according to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU). Merchant-funded rewards also suit places like the European Union (EU), where caps on swipe fees make card rewards hard to fund. Each country would need its own data privacy review, merchant offer network, and digital banking partners.
That rule does not change in any version.
Bottom line
Smaller institutions need rewards they cannot build, and merchants will pay for the customers those rewards bring. The plan works if one pilot proves that members change how they bank.
The case for itThe market is specific, the funding comes mostly from merchants, and the company survives more than three years on one client. That is enough time to win the references that sell the next ones. With the planned rollout, it turns profitable in year four without raising again.
What I would test firstWhether members redeem to savings. If at least half of redeemed points go to savings, the deposit story holds. If most go to travel, Primacy is just another rewards program. The pilot would run with and without the savings boost to see whether it moves the mix.
What would change my mindIf commissions, member activity, and costs all move the wrong way, as in Scenario C, runway falls to 41.6 months, and I would need a second client sooner than planned. Later on, the signal is sales pace. If years four and five sign 10 core clients a year instead of 15, break-even slips to month 45, and that is when I would raise a Series A or cut spending.
The limits of the plan
I corrected my own numbers. My first draft counted 36 months from the day the seed closed. That missed nine months of costs before launch, so I raised the seed to $2.5 million rather than leave the gap in the plan. Later, when I priced security, engineer pay, benefits, recruiting, legal setup, and a 10% contingency, monthly costs rose 29%, so I raised the seed to $4.0 million to keep the runway above three years. Later still, I added sales commissions, which my first sales costs left out, and yearly raises, since flat pay for five years was not realistic.
The member numbers are assumptions. Five percent of members active, $50 of spending each, and a 5% commission are my estimates, not measured rates. Scenarios A and C bracket them, but only a pilot can test them.
This is desk research. I did not interview a credit union executive, which is why expert interviews are part of the funded launch plan.
One regulatory question is flagged, not settled. Texas's money transmission exemption does not name credit unions. The plan keeps Primacy from ever holding member money and leaves the final call to a lawyer.
Years four and five are the least certain. Plan A repeats year three's pace and spending, and Plan B's pace and sellers are my own assumptions. Plan B's valuation also rests on Carta's median dilution, not a real term sheet.
No client ever leaves in the model. Every client renews. Credit unions merge every year, so some clients will leave, and only the pilot and the first references can show real renewal rates.
The AI gain comes from one study. The 14% productivity gain comes from a study of customer support agents. I applied it to success managers too, whose work is different.
The float depends on credit lines. By month 60, the float reaches $748,822, more than a young company may be able to borrow. If lenders said no and cash had to carry it, the low point for cash would fall from $846,591 to about $413,938.
Costs I could not price. Five costs have no public price, so I name them instead of modeling them: the offer networks’ cut of commissions, the cut digital banking platform partners would take for selling and supporting Starter clients, digital banking integration fees, transaction data feed fees, and Texas sales tax on software, which raises a client’s real price.