What payactive does

payactive is a European Open Banking payment infrastructure provider founded by brothers Mathias and Manuel Born and headquartered in Dresden, Germany, operating under a Verantwortungseigentum (responsibility ownership) corporate structure. The company connects businesses directly to their bank accounts via PSD2 and EBICS protocols across 300+ European banks, enabling account-to-account (A2A) payments that bypass intermediary PSP accounts and their associated rolling reserves.

The platform is modular, comprising Payments (one-time A2A collections via SEPA direct debit or instant bank transfer), Subscriptions (recurring billing with mandate management and chargeback handling), Billing (ZUGFeRD-compliant e-invoicing with automated dunning and digital collection handover), Instalment (flexible payment plans with a customer self-service portal), and Social Cashback® (a feature that allocates a portion of transaction fees to customer-selected sustainability projects such as ForTomorrow, BuildingFuture e.V., and NeuWald gGmbH). Distribution combines a no-code self-serve portal and checkout links with a full REST API (apidocs.payactive.eu) for developer integration, supplemented by sales-assisted expert sessions for enterprise prospects.

payactive generates revenue via per-transaction fees starting at 0.6% for A2A payments, materially below the 2-3% charged by card-based PSPs, and markets this cost advantage alongside a claimed 98% first-attempt collection success rate. Target segments span SaaS platforms, membership organizations and cooperatives, co-working spaces, municipal utilities (Stadtwerke), insurance, telecommunications, and public sector/mobility providers, with named reference customers including GLS Bank, The Generation Forest, recyclehero, ver.de, guud, and ProjectBay. The company serves Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and operates remote-first with offices in Dresden and Köln. The company reports 1-10 employees and a single disclosed funding round of approximately $754K in February 2021, suggesting a bootstrapped or near-bootstrapped operating posture.

Name

payactive

Legal name

Payactive GmbH

Website

https://payactive.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

payactive is a Dresden-based Open Banking payment platform serving European businesses with recurring payments. It offers modular Payments, Subscriptions, Billing, and Instalment services via direct A2A bank connectivity across 300+ European banks at 0.6% per transaction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Banking Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

A2A Checkout & Merchant Acceptance Solutions (FSAMAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

A2A Bill Pay & eInvoicing (Open Banking Enabled) (FSAMAFAL), Recurring Billing, Subscriptions & Tokenized Payments (CRAFALAH), Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF)

Keywords

• Open Banking payments
• SEPA direct debit
• Recurring billing platform
• Payment infrastructure
• PSD2 payment processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Dresden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees: payactive charges transaction fees per payment processed through its platform. The primary fee structure starts at 0.6% per transaction for A2A (account-to-account) payments, significantly lower than the 2-3% charged by traditional PSPs for card payments. This is the core revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

payactive operates an Open Banking payment infrastructure platform for Europe that enables businesses to automate payments, subscriptions, invoicing, and dunning directly through their own business bank accounts. The platform connects to 300+ European banks via PSD2 and EBICS protocols, bypassing intermediary PSP accounts and delivering funds directly to merchant accounts. It comprises four modular services – Payments (one-time A2A collection), Subscriptions (recurring SEPA direct debit), Billing (ZUGFeRD e-invoicing with automated dunning), and Social Cashback® (sustainability impact donation per transaction) – plus an Instalment module for flexible payment plans.

Product overview

payactive is an Open Banking payment infrastructure platform for Europe that enables businesses to automate payments, subscriptions, invoicing, and dunning directly through their business bank accounts. The modular platform comprises four core services: Payments (one-time instant payments), Subscriptions (recurring SEPA direct debit), Billing (ZUGFeRD-compliant e-invoicing with automated dunning), and Social Cashback® (sustainability impact through transactions). An additional Instalment module enables flexible payment plans. The platform connects directly to 300+ European banks via Open Banking (PSD2 & EBICS), delivering funds instantly to business accounts without intermediary accounts. Pricing starts at 0.6% per transaction with approximately 98% first-attempt collection success rate. Data hosting is in Germany.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Social Cashback®: A feature integrated into every payactive transaction, whereby a portion of transaction fees is donated or invested into social or environmental projects chosen by customers, at no extra cost to the merchant or customer.

Products and services

• Payments One-time instant payment service enabling businesses to collect payments directly from customer bank accounts via SEPA direct debit or instant bank transfer. Supports plug-and-play payment links and full REST API integration, with 98% first-attempt collection success rate, instant payment notifications, and real-time status updates. Designed for European businesses seeking a low-cost alternative to card-based PSPs.
• Subscriptions Automated recurring payment service for subscription billing using SEPA direct debit. Supports variable dates and amounts, SEPA mandate management in the portal, customer self-service, and automatic handling of failed payments. Targeted at SaaS platforms and any business with recurring billing needs.
• Billing Digital invoice and dunning automation service that creates ZUGFeRD-compliant e-invoices with customizable design, automatic sending, payment matching, and escalatable dunning workflows including handover to digital collection partners. Targets businesses needing automated accounts receivable administration.
• Social Cashback® Proprietary sustainability impact feature integrated into every payactive transaction, whereby a portion of transaction fees is donated and invested in social or ecological projects chosen by customers (e.g., ForTomorrow for climate protection, BuildingFuture e.V. for education, NeuWald gGmbH for forest restoration), at no additional cost to merchant or customer.
• Instalment Flexible installment payment plan feature enabling businesses to create and manage payment schedules with flexible tenures and amounts. Includes a customer portal with self-service for end customers and an overview of outstanding payments for merchants.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% first-attempt payment success rate
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Microsoft for StartupsminorGTM or Marketing Partnerpayactive is part of the Microsoft for Startups program, which provides technology startups with resources, cloud credits, and go-to-market support to accelerate growth.
• TinkcoreTechnology or IntegrationTink provides the Open Banking infrastructure that enables payactive to connect to 300+ European banks via PSD2 protocols. Tink is a pan-European Open Banking platform.
• TechQuartierminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrankfurt-based fintech innovation hub that supports payactive's growth through ecosystem access, networking, and startup support programs in the German fintech community.
• InsurLab GermanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGermany's leading insurance innovation hub that supports payactive in reaching insurance industry customers through its ecosystem of insurers and insurtech companies.
• StartplatzminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman startup incubator and accelerator based in Cologne and Düsseldorf that provides payactive with ecosystem access, mentoring, and co-working space support.
• AnthropiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovation hub supporting payactive's development through access to research networks and technology partnerships in the German-speaking startup ecosystem.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SumUp: European SMB payment processor offering card acceptance plus increasingly recurring and digital payment products. Comparable SMB-first positioning and European multi-country payment rails exposure.
• Mollie: European multi-payment-method processor focused on SMBs and SaaS, offering cards, SEPA direct debit, and recurring billing. Comparable product surface (payments + recurring + onboarding simplicity) and similar SMB and mid-market target customer.
• GoCardless: UK-based direct debit and recurring payments specialist serving SMBs across Europe with SEPA/ACH, API-first integrations, and recurring billing features. Most comparable direct competitor on A2A subscription collection with overlapping verticals (SaaS, subscriptions, membership organizations).
• Trustly: European A2A / pay-by-bank network owned by Klarna, focused on instant bank-to-bank payments and online banking checkout for merchants. Closest parallel to payactive's core A2A infrastructure and merchant acceptance flows.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments incumbent serving millions of businesses with cards, ACH/SEPA, subscriptions (Stripe Billing), and increasingly embedded A2A / direct debit alternatives across Europe. Overlap with payactive in recurring billing and merchant checkout for SaaS and SMB customers.
• Adyen: Large enterprise-focused global payment processor offering card, direct debit, and increasingly Open Banking / A2A methods across Europe. Competes on enterprise recurring-billing deals where payactive is positioning (utilities, telecom, insurance).
• Klarna: European BNPL/payments incumbent now owning Trustly and broader A2A infrastructure. Overlaps with payactive on pay-by-bank checkout for merchants and on subscription/pay-later flows for SMBs across the same DACH and broader European geography.

Others

• Tink: Pan-European Open Banking data and payments infrastructure provider (Visa-owned) that payactive directly integrates with. Functions as both partner and underlying platform competitor; comparable in technology layer (PSD2 connectivity) though not a merchant-facing PSP.

Emerging players

• Billie: Berlin-based B2B invoicing, BNPL and automated billing fintech. Comparable on ZUGFeRD-relevant invoice automation, German market focus, and B2B recurring payment workflows.
• Rivero: European SaaS-focused recurring billing and dunning platform with SEPA direct debit collection and smart dunning. Direct overlap with payactive's Subscriptions and Billing modules in the SaaS vertical.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/payactive
• Facebookfacebook.com/payactive.de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/payactive

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

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 payactive