Picture this: You’re three weeks postpartum, exhausted, and desperately need new nursing bras that actually fit. You find the perfect ones from Kindred Bravely, add them to your cart, then pause at checkout. That $150 price tag stings – until you remember you have over $3,000 sitting in your HSA account. But can you use it for pumping bras? How? Will you need to submit receipts later?
For too many new mothers, this moment of hesitation leads to abandoned carts and unmet needs. It’s a frustration that Kindred Bravely, the women-founded brand behind some of the most beloved maternity and nursing essentials, was hearing from customers daily.
Today, thanks to their partnership with Flex, those customers can simply select “HSA/FSA” at checkout and pay with their pre-tax healthcare dollars in seconds – no paperwork, no reimbursement hassles, no second-guessing.
Unlocking $150B in Underutilized Healthcare Funds
The statistics are staggering: Americans have over $150 billion sitting in Health Savings Accounts, with much of it going unused simply because people don’t know what they can buy or how to use these funds for everyday health products. This is particularly pronounced in maternal care, where the physical and financial demands of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery create urgent needs that HSA/FSA funds are specifically designed to address.
Enter Flex, a company on a mission to make essential health products more affordable and accessible by transforming the HSA/FSA checkout experience. Founded in 2023 and backed by Y Combinator, Flex enables direct-to-consumer brands to accept HSA/FSA payments at checkout while handling all the compliance complexities behind the scenes.
“Flex is bridging a critical gap in healthcare accessibility,” explains Sam O’Keefe, Flex CEO and Co-Founder. “We’re partnering with leading women’s health brands to unlock pre-tax healthcare dollars that often go unused – especially in areas like maternal care where the need is so immediate and personal.”
Flex’s streamlined solution lets customers pay with their HSA/FSA cards directly at checkout, boosting revenue, conversion rates, and average order values for partner brands. The company now works with over 300 wellness and health brands across women’s health, fitness, and skincare, while also spotlighting these brands through their curated marketplace at withflex.com/shop.
A Perfect Partnership: Mission-Driven Meets Solution-Focused
Kindred Bravely has built its reputation on designing premium essentials for pregnancy, postpartum, and breastfeeding that actually work for real women’s bodies. From their ultra-comfortable nursing bras to their game-changing maternity sleepwear, every product is crafted to support mothers through the physical and emotional journey from pregnancy through toddlerhood. But having great products isn’t enough when cost becomes a barrier to access – especially during a time when families are often facing new financial pressures alongside the demands of caring for a new baby.
The brand recognized a growing opportunity as they began receiving increasing requests asking about HSA/FSA eligibility for their products. This customer demand revealed a clear need for better integration of healthcare spending accounts into the purchasing experience. Flex provided the perfect turnkey solution, offering compliant HSA/FSA payment processing that could reduce customer friction while growing conversion rates without compromising brand trust.
The partnership made perfect sense on multiple levels: Both companies share a mission-driven approach to women’s health, recognizing that the postpartum period shouldn’t be a time when mothers have to choose between their comfort, health, and financial wellbeing. For Kindred Bravely, Flex represented a turnkey, compliant solution that could reduce customer friction while growing conversion rates without compromising the brand trust they’ve worked so hard to build.
The Results: More Than Just Numbers
The impact has been immediate and meaningful. Customers using HSA/FSA funds through Flex show a 35% increase in average order value – but more importantly, they’re able to invest in the quality postpartum care products they need without the sticker shock.
The seamless experience means no more abandoned carts due to payment confusion, no more customers putting off essential purchases, and no more tedious reimbursement processes. When a new mother finds the perfect nursing bra or recovery essentials, she can purchase them instantly with confidence, knowing her HSA/FSA funds are being used appropriately and compliantly.
For Kindred Bravely, the partnership has also opened doors to new customer acquisition through Flex’s marketplace and content promotions, connecting them with high-intent shoppers who are specifically looking for HSA/FSA-eligible products.
“The alignment goes beyond just payment processing,” notes O’Keefe. “It’s about our shared commitment to making maternal health more accessible and affordable when families need it most.”
Looking to the Future
The Kindred Bravely & Flex partnership represents something larger than a single integration – it’s part of a growing movement to expand HSA/FSA accessibility for essential women’s health products. As regulatory environments evolve and more products become eligible for pre-tax healthcare spending, partnerships like this are setting the stage for a more accessible future of maternal care.
The collaboration will continue expanding throughout the year, with strategic placements during key moments like Mother’s Day and Postpartum Awareness Month. Both companies are also advocating for broader HSA/FSA eligibility reforms that would make even more essential women’s health products accessible through pre-tax spending.
“We’re part of reimagining how healthcare spending works in America, starting with the products and services that matter most to women and families,” says O’Keefe.
The Bigger Picture
In a healthcare landscape where accessibility and affordability remain persistent challenges, solutions like Flex are creating tangible pathways to better care. For women’s health brands, the message is clear: HSA/FSA integration isn’t just a nice-to-have feature – it’s becoming essential infrastructure for serving customers who want to use their healthcare benefits for actual health needs.
The Kindred Bravely & Flex partnership demonstrates what’s possible when mission-driven brands embrace innovative payment solutions. By removing friction from the checkout experience and making pre-tax healthcare dollars easier to use, companies can simultaneously grow their business and better serve their customers’ most important needs.
For brands looking to better serve their customers and unlock the potential of pre-tax healthcare spending, the time to act is now. The infrastructure exists, the demand is proven, and the impact on both business metrics and customer satisfaction is clear.
Ready to make HSA/FSA part of your growth strategy? Learn more at withflex.com.
