EPI news
In brief
Paytech Promise secures over $20m in fresh capital
Payment technology platform Promise has received over $20m in a Series A investment round led by Kapor Capital and XYZ.
Investors including Bronze, First Round, and Y Combinator also participated in the round. The new capital injection takes the total raised by the fintech to more than $30m.
Established in 2017 by Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins and Diana Frappier, Promise aims to serve as a full payment solution for governments.
Its goal is to ease the process of making government payments such as utilities, child support, and parking tickets. In addition, the solution’s features include adjustable payment dates, interest-free payment plans, and custom reminders.
19 Feb 2021
Discover helps boost Sezzle’s buy-now-pay-later feature
Card-issuing giant Discover has signed an agreement to help expand instalment payment platform Sezzle’s buy-now-pay-later feature.
The agreement will enable Sezzle to work with merchants on the Discover Global Network to offer additional payment options.
Sezzle, which was founded in 2016, offers interest-free loans to customers for their purchases at online stores and select in-store locations. The loan approval is instant and individual credit scores are not affected unless the consumers opt for a credit building feature.
Through Sezzle, Discover merchants will be able to offer interest-free BNPL payments without having to upgrade their existing payment systems.
18 Feb 2021
Revolut launches QR codes to help businesses adhere to social distancing
UK challenger Revolut has launched QR code payments in a bid to help businesses adhere to social distancing measures.
Businesses who sign up to Revolut Business will now be able to access QR codes on their phones through the challenger bank’s app, without the need for any additional hardware.
Revolut’s aim is to offer touch-free, instant payments that can be processed using internet connectivity.
To enable the feature, business owners must generate a QR code through the Revolut Business app. The customer can then scan the code with their phone camera. After this, the customer will receive a prompt asking them to pay with Apple, Pay, Visa or Mastercard.
18 Feb 2021
Digital payments platform Wirex taps Zero Hash to foray into US
Wirex, a London-based digital payments platform, has collaborated with crypto trading infrastructure platform Zero Hash to support its expansion into the US market.
The US launch is scheduled for April, with the aim of giving Americans across 51 jurisdictions access to virtual currencies.
Commenting on the alliance, Zero Hash CEO Edward Woodford said: “Zero Hash provides the infrastructure enabling Wirex to rapidly expand into the United States, introducing an exciting product that is loved by clients globally to market there.
“Through the partnership, Wirex enables clients to seamlessly purchase and sell crypto, allows peer-to-peer crypto transfers and crypto rewards.”
15 Feb 2021
Klarna partners Ingenico to expand reach in Europe
BNPL player Klarna has joined forces with Ingenico, part of Worldline, to make its online payment solutions available to more merchants in Europe.
The development follows a roll-out in the Nordics, Germany, Austria as well as Switzerland.
The strategic partnership with Ingenico will allow merchants across Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK to deploy Klarna’s checkout experience and payment suite.
Klarna UK head Alex Marsh said: “The last year has seen unprecedented change in retail with e-commerce becoming the increasingly dominant engagement channel for merchants across markets. Together with Worldline, we help merchants to adapt to that change and offer a better online shopping experience for consumers.”
12 Feb 2021
India’s BharatPe raises $108m at $900m valuation
Indian fintech BharatPe, which enables merchants to accept payments from different payment apps, has raised $108m in a Series D equity round led by existing backer Coatue Management.
The fundraising increased the fintech’s valuation to $900m, bringing the company closer to the unicorn tag.
In addition, BharatPe raised a further $90m, ensuring secondary exit for its angel investors and employees for a total of $18m.
BharatPe co-founder and CEO Ashneer Grover said: “2020 has been an unprecedented year for all. However, we at BharatPe have grown exponentially – our payments business has grown 5x and our lending business has grown 10x in the last 12 months.”
10 Feb 2021
JCB expands alliance with Worldline across Europe
JCB International has expanded its partnership with payments and transactional services company Worldline.
Both companies previously teamed up to boost digital shopping outside of Europe and facilitate JCB Contactless in regions including Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovenia, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Poland.
The expanded partnership looks to support both the exchange of global ecommerce and the growth of JCB Contactless enablement across Europe.
It will enable more Worldline’s merchants to accept face-to-face contactless payments in other European markets, especially in Nordic regions, from the first quarter of this year.
In addition, Worldline merchants can facilitate online JCB cardmember transactions globally, leveraging JCB’s security payment authentication programmes.
9 Feb 2021
AGS, Mastercard collaborate to enable contactless ATM cash withdrawals in India
India-based payment solutions provider AGS Transact Technologies has joined forces with Mastercard to debut contactless ATM cash withdrawals.
Through the alliance, the two companies aim to offer secure banking services to Indians amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dubbed ‘Cardless ATM powered by Mastercard’, the new solution will allow users to withdraw cash without needing to insert their debit or credit card or entering their ATM pin.
The service will be available on the ATM machines of all participating banks. To access the service, Mastercard cardholders in India must use their bank’s mobile app to scan a QR code on the ATM screen, which will enable them to withdraw cash.
8 Feb 2021
Splitit secures funding facility from Goldman Sachs to fuel growth
Global payment solutions provider Splitit Payments has secured a receivables funding facility from Goldman Sachs Bank to accelerate its growth.
According to the key terms of the financing facility from Goldman Sachs, the lender has committed an investment of up to (A$197m) $150m, for a three-year term.
The payments firm has bagged this funding to support its business expansion.
The three-year revolving credit facility adds to Splitit’s balance sheet and is key to its capital management strategies for this year and the future. It is expected to be used to raise the company’s gross margins over time.
1 Feb 2021
Kenyan bank partners with Ukheshe to boost East African payment services
Digital fintech platform provider Ukheshe has announced the conclusion of a new agreement with the Nairobi-based lender KCB Bank Kenya.
Through the agreement, KCB will sponsor Ukheshe’s Bank Identification Number (BIN) number. This will allow Ukheshe to immediately issue both physical and virtual cards across East Africa where KCB has an extensive footprint.
Victor Ndlovu, Vice President of Ukheshe Africa, said the deal will include other innovative digital products such as QR issuing and acquiring.
He also said financial inclusion remains a massive challenge in the region and across the continent where millions of people are either unbanked or severely underserved.
19 Feb 2021