Competing With Banks: How One Forbes Feature Changed Market Perception

At a Glance

• Coverage Volume: 300+ Pieces — Wide Syndication
• Audience Reach: 1.1M Views — Investor Audience
• Average Domain Authority: 56 DA — Tier-One Anchors
• Social Shares: 2.5K — High Engagement

The Partnership

Salient PR partnered with Imprint to position their $75M Series B as a credibility milestone—not for lead generation, but for competitive positioning against JPMorgan, Citi, and Synchrony.

The Challenge

In the co-branded credit card market, there are maybe 10 major deals a year. Imprint knows exactly who those prospects are. The challenge wasn't awareness—it was perception. When you're a startup competing against banks with 100-year track records, walking into a pitch as "the fintech alternative" isn't enough. Daragh needed Imprint to be seen as an equal, not an underdog.

The Strategy

• High-Touch Placement: We arranged an in-person meeting between Daragh and Forbes Senior Editor Alex Konrad. No cold pitches, no press release blasts—a relationship-driven approach to secure the kind of deep feature that builds institutional credibility.
• Investor Validation: We coordinated interviews with Thrive Capital's Gaurav Ahuja and other investors to reinforce the funding story with third-party credibility.
• Full Syndication: Beyond Forbes, we drove coverage across Irish Times, Fintech Magazine, Fintech Futures, AlleyWatch, Silicon Republic, and dozens of fintech newsletters—ensuring the story reached every corner of the fintech ecosystem.

The Results

The Forbes feature positioned Imprint as a serious alternative to legacy banks—exactly what Daragh needed walking into those 10 conversations. The following year, we landed Imprint at #1 on Forbes' Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. Since then, Imprint has raised a $75M Series C at a $600M valuation, secured a $500M credit facility with Mizuho, Truist, and HSBC, and been named to the Forbes Fintech 50.