Funding Societies acquires CardUp, drives payment expansion

  • Solutions will offer unified financial experience for SMEs
  • SMEs can pay expenses, receive payments, borrow funds

(L-R): Kelvin Teo, co-founder and group CEO, Funding Societies Modalku; Nicki Ramsay, founder and CEO, CardUpFunding Societies has announced that it is acquiring regional payments solution, CardUp, for an undisclosed amount. 

In a statement, the SME digital financing platform said through the move, it will acquire CardUp’s payments capabilities such as card payments to non-card accepting recipients (domestic and cross-border), online payments acceptance and invoice automation tools.

It will also include its licenses and integrations with third-party business software. 

CardUp’s payment services will complement Funding Societies’ lending products, to offer a unified financial experience for SMEs across the region, enabling SMEs to manage and pay expenses, receive payments, and borrow funds all within one seamless digital platform, the company said.

The acquisition comes off the back of Funding Societies’ recent Series C+ raise of US$294 million (RM1.29 billion) in February, of which US$144 million (RM633.53 million) was raised in equity, and its recent investment into Bank Index in Indonesia, launch of business virtual card Elevate in Singapore and entry into Vietnam.

Launched in 2016, CardUp is a Singapore-based payments solution that helps individuals and businesses to make payments to suppliers and collect payments from customers digitally. 

With presence in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, CardUp claimed to have served tens of thousands of businesses including micro businesses, SMEs, and corporates across a spectrum of B2B and C2B industries. 

Co-founder and group chief executive officer (CEO) of Funding Societies | Modalku, Kelvin Teo, said, “Acquiring CardUp enables us to leapfrog and accelerate our market leadership in the regional fintech space, integrating payments capabilities, enhanced user experience and local licenses to our digital lending experience across key markets.”

Funding Societies said this acquisition comes at the right juncture as SMEs are expected to push Asean’s digital finance market to US$60 billion (RM263.64 billion) in revenues by 2025 and contribute 17% of the financial services industry’s total revenue, while the region’s business payments sector grows at a CAGR of 10% over the next five years. 

Founder and CEO of CardUp, Nicki Ramsay, said, “This acquisition reflects strong strategic and cultural synergy with both parties aligned on the mission to help SMEs improve the way they operate their business and manage cash flow.

“We are confident that CardUp and our employees are in good hands with Kelvin and his team, and we look forward to this next chapter of growth,” Ramsay said.

Once the acquisition is finalised and approved by the regulators, Funding Societies will welcome Nicki Ramsay into its management team to lead its payments business while retaining all of CardUp’s employees across Asia. 

It said CardUp will continue to operate its consumer and business services and maintain its long-standing relationships with card networks, issuers, and media partners.

 

Related Stories :

 
 
Keyword(s) :
 
Author Name :
 
Download Digerati50 2020-2021 PDF

Digerati50 2020-2021

Get and download a digital copy of Digerati50 2020-2021