Payments & Fintech Acquisitions in 2023

Private equity funds managed by Blackstone signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority (reported ~80%) stake in Sony Payment Services Inc. from Sony Bank (part of Sony Group), with Sony Bank retaining a minority roll‑over. The deal — reported at roughly $280 million for an 80% stake — marks Blackstone's first investment in Japan's fintech/payments sector as it seeks to expand its Japan private equity portfolio and support SPSV's growth through technology and talent investment.

Improving Payments has acquired the client portfolio of New York-based payment processor Science of Sales to expand its payment solutions offering and deepen relationships with underserved merchant segments. The portfolio acquisition broadens Improving Payments' merchant base and supports its strategy to connect businesses to appropriate clearing houses while delivering personalized payment support.

Housatonic Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, has made a strategic growth investment in eCard Systems, a Brentwood, Tennessee provider of outsourced gift card programs and processing services. The capital will support expansion of eCard's sales, marketing, technology and production capabilities; financial terms were not disclosed. Canaccord Genuity and Kroll Securities acted as financial advisors to eCard Systems.

SWBC's fintech subsidiary SWIVEL Transactions, LLC has acquired Magic-Wrighter, Inc., a Grand Rapids-based payments and ACH service provider. The acquisition expands SWIVEL's payment capabilities—including dealer funding, direct ACH processing, and K-12 school payment solutions—and broadens its reach into banks, credit unions, merchants, and school districts.

Milestone Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled services and financial solutions, has acquired CDE Services LLC, a provider of integrated payment processing and ancillary POS services. The transaction was supported by strategic capital and credit commitments from LO3 Capital, Tecum Capital, and Navigate Capital Partners and is intended to accelerate CDE's product expansion and market share growth in the integrated payments space.

Improving Payments has acquired the agent portfolio of Merchantology to expand its merchant revenue stream and broaden its payments footprint across the USA. The asset purchase is intended to simplify payment processes for merchants and add recurring processing volume to Improving Payments' business.

US fintech Squeeze has acquired UK technology start-up Youtility to combine Squeeze's consumer-facing price-comparison and data analytics capabilities with Youtility's B2B API platform. The deal positions Squeeze to offer embedded home finance management services through banks and fintech partners in the UK and accelerate roll-out of new banking partnerships.

Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) has completed its acquisition of Finaro, a cross-border eCommerce payments provider and licensed bank, expanding Shift4's footprint and cross-border commerce capabilities in Europe. The deal brings Finaro's technology and Israel-based engineering talent into Shift4 and will allow the combined company to offer a unified global payments platform for merchants.

Chicago-based Bitcoin ATM operator RockItCoin has acquired regional Bitcoin ATM operators FirstCoin ATM and Phoenix Crypto, adding 78 ATMs and bringing its network to more than 2,000 locations nationwide. The acquisitions expand RockItCoin's footprint in California, Texas and Arizona and increase access to its mobile app, OTC trading desk and retail deposit services.

Alipse Systems has acquired a First Data/Fiserv payments ISO that was represented by 733Park. The ISO, which provides credit and debit card processing to small- and medium-sized businesses, will continue serving merchant customers while Alipse expands its merchant base and municipal payments capabilities.

Basware completed the acquisition of Glantus Holdings plc, acquiring the entire share capital under a scheme sanctioned by the High Court of Ireland and effective October 18, 2023. The deal brings Glantus’ AI-driven audit recovery, overpayment and invoice fraud detection capabilities into Basware’s AP automation and e-invoicing platform to expand fraud-detection and cost-recovery offerings for finance teams.

Aurora Payments has acquired VN Systems (Iso1st LLC, DBA VN Systems), a Georgia-based merchant services provider and ISO that serves Vietnamese-owned nail salons and other SMBs. The deal adds immediate scale to Aurora and its NailSoft salon-management platform, expanding distribution and integrated payments/software capabilities; 733Park advised VN Systems on the transaction.

Stax Payments has acquired Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems (APPS) to integrate APPS’s processing capabilities into a unified, end-to-end payments platform branded as Stax Processing. APPS leadership (including CEO Abe Maghaguian and COO Sarah Gerald) and nearly 50 APPS team members will join Stax as the companies complete integration through 2024 to expand Stax’s processing, data reporting, and multi-channel capabilities.

NMI, a Schaumburg, Illinois-based payments technology company, has acquired the commercial division of payments software provider Sphere. The acquisition brings 23 commercial employees and Sphere's Irving, Texas office to NMI, and is intended to enhance NMI's underwriting, risk management and merchant account creation capabilities; terms were not disclosed.

Block (formerly Square) has acquired Hifi, a music-focused fintech startup that offers a royalties-tracking dashboard and a royalty acceleration payroll product called Cash Flow. Financial terms were not disclosed; Block said Hifi will join the company to expand its financial services for artists and further its music-tech strategy following the earlier Tidal acquisition.

Nashville-based Celero Commerce has acquired Dallas-based Finical, a provider of electronic payments technology for small and mid-sized businesses. The deal expands Celero's capabilities and scale in payments processing — bringing its pro forma annual card volume to roughly $25 billion — and marks Celero's tenth acquisition since launching in 2018.

Shift4 Payments purchased SpotOn’s sports and entertainment business unit for $100 million in cash, acquiring the unit’s customers, some employees and certain technology assets while SpotOn retains and licenses source code for restaurant use. The deal expands Shift4’s presence in the stadiums/venues vertical by adding marquee clients and technology to bundle POS, mobile ordering and payments for sports and entertainment venues.

PSG Equity (PSG) has made a strategic growth investment in Versatile Credit, a Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania-based provider of an omnichannel point-of-sale lending platform. PSG partners will join Versatile’s board to support go-to-market expansion, deepen lender relationships, and accelerate growth into new merchant categories; financial terms were not disclosed.

Velo Payments, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire YapStone, Inc., the leading payments platform for the short-term and vacation rental industry. The transaction combines YapStone’s payfac/MSB capabilities and VacationRentPayment product with Velo’s global disbursements and open-banking technology to expand capabilities and deliver lower-cost, cross-border payment experiences for marketplace and STVR customers.

InComm Payments has acquired Zenda, a Palo Alto–based developer of an AI-driven health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) platform. The acquisition expands InComm's healthcare payments capabilities and brings Zenda's automated expense-tracking, smart debit card and tax-optimization features into InComm's InComm Healthcare business unit.

General Atlantic has made a strategic growth equity investment in Financial Information Technologies, LLC (Fintech), joining existing investor TA Associates. The capital will support Fintech's product innovation, expansion of its payments and data platform for the beverage alcohol industry, and pursuit of M&A initiatives.

Upgrade, Inc. acquired Uplift, Inc. — a travel-focused Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider — for $100 million in cash and stock. The deal brings Uplift's travel financing capabilities (serving ~3.3 million customers and 300+ travel partners) into Upgrade to expand point-of-sale credit offerings for travel and adjacent consumer finance markets.

Passiv, operator of the SnapTrade fintech API, has acquired social investing app Wealthly and hired its founder Terry Ma and his team. The acquisition brings Wealthly's account-aggregation integrations and engineering talent to accelerate development of Passiv's SnapTrade product and expand its technical IP.

When I Work, a leading workforce management platform for shift-based businesses, has acquired fintech startup Lean Financial to integrate on-demand pay and other financial products for hourly and flex workers. The acquisition expands When I Work's capabilities to offer financial solutions (including instant pay and cash advances) aimed at improving retention and financial wellbeing for hourly workers.

Merchant Lynx Services has acquired National Credit Card Processing (NCCP) Group, a Long Island–based payments provider focused on construction, heavy-duty truck repair and related B2B verticals. NCCP founder Peter Brickman will remain as head of the new Merchant Lynx division to ensure continuity while Merchant Lynx expands its technology and vertical coverage.

Fortis, a US-based embedded payments and commerce technology provider, has acquired SmartPay, an embedded payments solution provider with strong ERP and enterprise software relationships. The acquisition will add SmartPay’s team and customer relationships to Fortis and expand its capability to serve software platforms, marketplaces and scaling businesses, coinciding with Fortis’ launch into Canada and new settlement features.

Interopay Inc., a Portland-based B2B payment automation company, has acquired Rewardworks, a long-time accounts-payable/payment automation software provider. The deal — executed by Interopay (formed by Rewardworks management and investors) — will integrate Rewardworks' operations into Interopay to accelerate product development, expand customer reach, and enhance ERP-integrated payment solutions for mid-market customers.

Clarion Capital Partners completed a control investment in Ready Credit Corporation (including its Reverse ATM subsidiary) on May 25, 2023. The partnership will fund product and infrastructure enhancements, geographic expansion and go-to-market growth as Ready Credit scales its cash-to-card prepaid kiosk payment solutions for airlines, venues, transit authorities and other consumer-facing businesses.

Fullsteam LLC, an Auburn, Alabama–based payments and vertical software provider, received a significant minority investment from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) alongside founding sponsor Aquiline Capital Partners and a consortium of other investors. The growth capital will support Fullsteam’s expansion strategy, including continued organic growth and further acquisitions across its portfolio of vertical software and payments businesses.

Preludd Payment Services has acquired Amadis, a provider of EMV card-present payment acceptance software and SoftPOS solutions, to broaden its payment platform capabilities and accelerate global expansion. The deal combines Preludd's cloud-based white-label gateway and POS management services with Amadis' EMV/SoftPOS software expertise to create a stronger global payments solutions provider.

Baird Capital’s Global Private Equity Fund has made a growth capital investment in Freemarket, a London-based fintech that provides B2B cross-border payments and currency exchange. The funding will support Freemarket’s international expansion and fast growth while providing a partial cash-out to existing shareholders; financial terms were not disclosed.

XTM Inc. announced and completed the acquisition of QRails, Inc., a vertically integrated earned wage access (EWA) issuer-processor, in a transaction valued at approximately US$3.5 million (cash and XTM common shares) with XTM assuming QRails' debt. QRails — operator of the AnyDay EWA product with offices in Denver, Kansas City and London — will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary with Cary Strange named President, bringing issuer/processor capabilities and live US/UK EWA clients to XTM's payments business.

Payroc WorldAccess, LLC (Payroc) has acquired Raleigh-based Atlantic Merchant Services, a full-service merchant payment processor serving the mid-Atlantic and beyond. The deal expands Payroc's merchant relationships, sales partner network and payment technology reach while allowing Atlantic Merchant's team to access Payroc's in-house processing and global capabilities.

Greenwood, the Atlanta-based digital banking platform for Black and Latino individuals and businesses, announced the acquisition of Kinly, a digitally native neobank focused on building generational wealth for Black America. The deal brings Kinly's ~300,000-member community into Greenwood's ecosystem, expanding Greenwood's customer base and product capabilities to better serve Black and Latino consumers and small businesses.

Rêv Worldwide, together with funds advised by Searchlight Capital Partners, completed the acquisition of the Netspend consumer business from Global Payments in an all-cash transaction valued at $1 billion. The carve-out returns Netspend to its founders, Roy and Bertrand Sosa, and positions the combined Rêv–Netspend business to expand globally and accelerate digital product innovation in prepaid and consumer payments.

Parthenon Capital has acquired the gaming division of Global Payments Inc., transitioning Global Payments Gaming Solutions into an independent company renamed Pavilion Payments. The carve-out will be headquartered in Las Vegas and Parthenon intends to grow the business organically and via acquisitions while Global Payments remains a long-term technology partner.

Acorns has acquired U.K.-based GoHenry and its European arm Pixpay to expand its financial wellness offerings to children and teens and accelerate its roadmap for family-focused products. The deal brings together Acorns' consumer investing platform with GoHenry and Pixpay's money-management, prepaid card and financial education products, extending Acorns' reach into additional markets across Europe and the U.S.

Bakkt Holdings, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Apex Crypto LLC after securing all required regulatory approvals. Apex Crypto is a turnkey cryptocurrency trading and custody platform that has facilitated $12.5 billion in crypto trades for 30+ clients; Bakkt expects the deal to expand its crypto capabilities, scale client reach and accelerate its path to profitability.

Zenus Bank has acquired Financial Urban Exchange LLC (FUEX Payments), a fintech that provides real-time payments APIs for the Caribbean and Latin American markets. The deal strengthens Zenus Bank’s payments capabilities and supports geographic expansion into the Caribbean and Latin America by integrating FUEX’s real-time payments technology into Zenus’s banking and BaaS offerings.

Guidepost Growth Equity has made a significant minority growth investment in ClassWallet, a digital wallet purchasing and reimbursement platform serving state and K–12 education public funds. The capital and partnership will support ClassWallet’s go-to-market expansion, product roadmap, and hiring initiatives to scale its compliant public-funds disbursement technology across additional states and programs.

Zopa will acquire DivideBuy’s point-of-sale (POS) finance technology and lending platform as part of a push to deliver "BNPL 2.0." The deal — Zopa’s first acquisition — is expected to close in the coming months and to boost Zopa’s revenue while combining DivideBuy’s POS product with Zopa’s underwriting, regulatory permissions and funding capabilities.

B2B payments firm SendFriend has acquired the assets of US-based RegTech provider DigiPli for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will let SendFriend embed DigiPli's onboarding-as-a-service AML and sanctions-screening technology into its payments-as-a-service platform to strengthen compliance controls and expand its cross-border payments offering.

Paramount Management Group has acquired the ATM portfolio operated by Amer-E-Com Digital Corporation (d/b/a First National ATM), adding more than 1,000 ATMs across 34 states and the District of Columbia. The First National ATM team will continue under Paramount; Tremont Capital Group advised the seller on the transaction.

Marqeta acquired credit card program management platform Power Finance, strengthening Marqeta's credit capabilities and accelerating its ability to offer modern credit products. The all-cash transaction announced January 30, 2023 (and completed in early February 2023) included approximately $223 million in cash plus up to $52 million in milestone payments.

Nav has acquired the assets of fintech app Nuula to accelerate mobile app development and expand its small-business financial-health platform. The asset purchase brings Nuula technology and team members into Nav to enhance cash-flow insights, credit information, and mobile financing features for SMBs.

Battery Ventures has agreed to make a significant strategic investment in Ascendant (AscendantFX Capital Inc.), becoming the company's primary investor to accelerate product innovation, network expansion and growth. Ascendant, a Toronto-based cross-border payments fintech serving over 2,000 financial institutions and corporate customers, said the transaction is expected to close in H1 2023 subject to regulatory approval; Raymond James acted as Ascendant's exclusive financial advisor.

American Express has entered into an agreement to acquire Nipendo, an Israel-based provider of cloud-based procure-to-pay and B2B payments automation. The acquisition is intended to expand American Express's B2B payments capabilities by integrating Nipendo's team, technology and automation for procure-to-pay, accounts payable and receivable processes.

Nuvei Corporation agreed to acquire Paya Holdings Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion (USD $9.75 per share). The deal combines Nuvei's global payment platform with Paya's U.S. integrated-payments and ISV capabilities to accelerate growth in eCommerce, integrated payments and B2B end markets.