What Zūm Rails does

Zūm Rails is a Montreal-headquartered payments infrastructure company founded in 2019 by Miles Schwartz, Marc Milewski, and Marcel Ferreira. It operates an omni-rail payment gateway branded as "Zum OS" that consolidates open banking data aggregation with instant payment processing across ACH, Same-day ACH, RTP, FedNow, Interac, EFT, Visa Direct, Mastercard Send, and credit/debit cards through a single unified API. The platform serves primarily financial services companies, fintech platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges, lending businesses, and B2B platforms that require real-time payments, identity verification, fraud prevention, and embedded payment capabilities across Canada and the United States. Named enterprise customers include Western Union, Questrade, Desjardins, Fairstone, Deloitte, Coinsquare, and Shakepay, with the platform processing over $1 billion in payments per month across 500+ clients.

Zūm monetizes through a combination of transaction fees on processed payment volume, recurring subscription and platform fees for API access and modular features, interchange and program management fees from Mastercard-powered prepaid and secured credit card programs, and revenue-sharing arrangements with white-label Partner Portal resellers. The product suite is modular: the core platform includes US & CA Payment Rails and Card Issuance as anchor products, with add-on modules covering Credit Card Processing (Payment Facilitator services), Invoicing & Subscriptions, KYC & Financial Data Insights, the white-label Partner Portal, Advanced Reporting, Wallet Functionality, and Fraud Reduction. Pricing is quote-based with annual billing cadence and no public tiers.

The company bootstrapped to $10M+ ARR and over 40 employees before raising its first institutional round — a C$10.5 million Series A led by Minneapolis-based Arthur Ventures in February 2024 at a C$105 million post-money valuation. Proceeds were deployed to expand into the United States (formal U.S. headquarters established in Coral Gables, Miami in September 2024), launch Banking-as-a-Service features and the FedNow real-time rail offering, and pursue Payment Facilitator status. The company holds SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider certification, and Bank of Canada PSP Registry registration, and has secured strategic partnerships with Visa, Mastercard, Fiserv, and MX that anchor its rail connectivity and distribution.

Name

Zūm Rails

Legal name

ZUM RAILS INC.

Website

https://zumrails.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Zūm Rails operates an omni-rail payment gateway (Zum OS) that consolidates open banking with instant payments via a single unified API, serving fintech platforms, financial services companies, cryptocurrency exchanges, lenders, and B2B platforms across Canada and the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Platform

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Bank-to-Bank Transfers & Pay-by-Bank (Consumer & Merchant) (FSAMAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Account Aggregation & Connectivity (Multi-bank linking) (FSAGACAA), Remittance & Cross-Border Payment Rails (SWIFT, Local Clearing, RTP Connectivity) (FSAGAKAH)

Keywords

• Open banking payments
• Payment gateway platform
• Instant payment rails
• Card issuance platform
• KYC verification services

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing & Transaction Fees: Zūm Rails charges transaction fees for processing payments across its multi-rail gateway. The platform acts as a Payment Facilitator managing merchant onboarding, settlement, and compliance, earning fees per transaction processed through ACH, RTP, FedNow, Interac, credit/debit cards, and Visa/Mastercard Direct rails.
2. Subscription / Platform Fees: SaaS-style recurring platform fees for access to the all-in-one payment gateway, including KYC tools, fraud prevention, reporting, invoicing, and card issuance capabilities. The company reached $10M+ ARR indicating a significant recurring revenue base.
3. Card Issuance Programs: Revenue from Mastercard-powered prepaid card programs, including interchange fees on card transactions and program management fees for businesses seeking expense management, wage access, and consumer rewards solutions.
4. Partner Portal & Reseller Revenue: Revenue-sharing and monetization opportunities for platforms using the Partner Portal to offer embedded payments to their own customers, generating ongoing revenue from every transaction processed through the white-labeled portal.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Zūm Rails operates Zum OS, an all-in-one payments platform that integrates open banking with instant payments through a single unified API. The platform consolidates multiple payment rails (ACH, RTP, FedNow, Interac, EFT, Visa Direct, Mastercard Send, credit/debit cards) along with card issuance, KYC verification, fraud prevention, invoicing, wallet functionality, and a white-label Partner Portal, enabling businesses to replace up to seven separate service providers with one integration.

Product overview

Zūm Rails is a unified all-in-one payments platform (Zum OS) that integrates open banking with instant payments, serving North American markets. The platform operates on a modular architecture centered around the core Zum OS platform with integrated payment rails (US & CA Payment Rails) and card issuance capabilities. Additional modules include Credit Card Processor (full PayFac services), Invoicing & Subscriptions, KYC & Financial Data Insights, Partner Portal, Advanced Reporting, Wallet Functionality, and Fraud Reduction. All components share a unified API and can be deployed together or individually, allowing businesses to replace up to seven different service providers through a single integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Zum OS: All-in-one payment platform infrastructure that enables payments, card issuance, KYC, and financial data aggregation from a single unified system.

Products and services

• Zum OS All-in-one payments platform integrating open banking with instant payments. Provides unified access to multiple payment rails including ACH, RTP, FedNow, Interac, Visa Direct, Mastercard Send, and credit/debit cards across the US and Canada, with card issuance, KYC, fraud prevention, invoicing, and Partner Portal capabilities accessible from one integration.
• US & CA Payment Rails Multi-rail payment gateway supporting ACH, Same-day ACH, RTP, FedNow, EFT, Interac, Visa Direct, Mastercard Send, Debit Card, and Credit Card payments across US and Canada with instant settlement options. For businesses requiring real-time money movement across multiple payment networks.
• Card Issuance Prepaid and secured credit-building card programs fully managed by Zūm Rails, including cardholder portal, self-serve features, customizable API integration, closed-loop commerce, and branded wallet functionality. Leverages Mastercard's network spanning over 200 countries.
• Credit Card Processor (PayFac) Full Payment Facilitator (PayFac) services for credit cards including instant merchant onboarding, direct card network access, built-in risk management, real-time payouts, smart routing, and revenue recovery. Enables businesses to embed credit card acceptance with fully customized checkout experiences.
• Invoicing & Subscriptions Built-in billing platform enabling one-time and recurring invoice creation, automated renewals, proration handling, flexible subscription plans, real-time payment tracking, and instant payment links across all major payment rails.
• KYC & Financial Data Insights AI-powered identity verification and financial intelligence platform providing advanced KYC, real-time retries, optimized network messaging, predictive risk modeling, automated compliance monitoring, and universal bank connections for real-time financial data.
• Partner Portal White-labeled portal for platforms to onboard clients, manage compliance, track payments, access real-time insights, handle bulk payments, and generate financial reports. Includes integrated DocuSign and automated KYC/KYB workflows with revenue-sharing arrangements.
• Advanced Reporting Comprehensive reporting and automated reconciliation dashboard providing unified visibility across all payment rails and products. Includes real-time event tracking, webhooks, custom stakeholder reports, and automated sharing capabilities.
• Wallet Functionality Digital wallet enabling instant fund transfers between balances and bank accounts in real-time. Features real-time balance tracking and fully white-labeled experience for branded customer engagement.
• Fraud Reduction Multi-layered fraud prevention including KYC validation during onboarding, built-in name matching, penny test verification, 3D Secure 2.0, sanction screening, and real-time transaction monitoring for reducing chargebacks, synthetic identity fraud, and unauthorized transactions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processes over $1 billion in payments per month
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability5 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FiservcoreTechnology or Integration · 18 February 2026Fiserv partnership enabled Zūm Rails to become an official payments facilitator in the U.S. and Canada, completing its all-in-one payments ecosystem. This allows companies to embed credit card acceptance with fully customized checkout experiences, with Fiserv managing the underlying payment processing infrastructure.
• HES FinTechminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2025HES FinTech partnership expands card programs across North America, connecting lenders and borrowers through prepaid and secured credit card issuance. Aims to enhance operational efficiency and create new monetization opportunities in the fintech ecosystem.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or Integration · 21 August 2025Mastercard partnership powers Zūm Rails' suite of prepaid card programs in Canada, enabling businesses to offer reloadable Mastercard cards for expense management, wage access, contractor payouts, and consumer rewards. Leverages Mastercard's global payment network spanning over 200 countries.
• RealDesk.AIminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2024RealDesk.AI (formerly Datz Solutions) partners with Zūm Rails to embed payment processing into its AI-powered real estate transaction management platform, serving brokerages including RE/MAX, Century 21, and Royal LePage. Zūm Rails powers the entire payment lifecycle within the RealDesk platform.
• MXcoreTechnology or Integration · 7 March 2023MX partnership combines Zūm Rails' instant payment rails with MX's instant account verification (IAV) and open banking data capabilities. MX Processor Tokens enable secure account authentication and payment triggering without retaining sensitive customer data, creating a unified workflow for Canadian fintechs and banks.
• VisacoreTechnology or IntegrationVisa partnership enables Visa Direct real-time push payments and Visa Secure 3D Secure authentication on the Zūm Rails platform. Zūm Rails is a Visa-validated service provider utilizing Visa Direct for instant fund transfers and cardholder name validation to reduce fraudulent transactions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Flinks: Canadian open banking and account-aggregation platform. Most direct functional peer for Zūm Rails' bank-connectivity and KYC layer; also where Zūm CEO Miles Schwartz previously led sales.
• Versapay: Canadian AR automation and EFT payments platform. Highly comparable given co-founder Marc Milewski built Canada's first EFT gateway there; both target Canadian enterprise finance and treasury workflows.
• Finix: Payments infrastructure platform offering PayFac-as-a-service, card processing, and payouts for software platforms. Closely mirrors Zūm Rails' Partner Portal / white-label embedded payments model.
• Modern Treasury: Developer-first payment operations platform unifying ACH, RTP, wires, and card disbursements through a single API. Comparable API-first approach to multi-rail orchestration targeting fintechs and enterprises.
• Dwolla: US-based API platform for ACH and real-time payments (RTP/FedNow). Similar target customer (fintechs, lenders, platforms) and similar rail-aggregation thesis, though with a US-only footprint.
• MX: Open banking and account-aggregation provider that is also an active partner of Zūm Rails via MX Processor Tokens. Overlaps on financial data connectivity, KYC, and instant account verification use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Plaid: Dominant US open-banking and account-connectivity incumbent. Overlaps with Zūm Rails on bank linking and financial data aggregation but at much greater scale and with broader consumer and enterprise reach.
• Adyen: Global, enterprise-grade payment processor spanning cards, local rails, and unified commerce. Represents the upper-tier incumbent Zūm Rails competes against for enterprise processing mandates.
• Stripe: Broad payments and embedded finance platform with Financial Connections, Stripe Issuing, and Stripe Connect. Direct competitor in embedded payments and developer-first rails, with vastly larger scale.

Emerging players

• Token.io: Open-banking payment initiation (PISPs) and A2A rail provider primarily in Europe. Comparable in focus on bank-to-bank real-time payments via open banking, though geographically concentrated in UK/EU.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zūm Rails