Payen

What Payen does

Payen Limited is a UK-authorised Electronic Money Institution that operates the pinPay digital payment platform, enabling cross-border payments across 90+ countries in 25 currencies. The company serves two primary customer segments: online merchants and e-commerce businesses seeking integrated checkout payment acceptance with local payment routing and FX optimisation, and individual consumers using pinPay accounts to upload funds, store multi-currency balances, and make cross-border transfers. The platform is API-first and was architecturally designed to absorb regulatory and technical changes (such as 3DS1 to 3DS2 migrations) internally rather than requiring client-side modifications.

The technology stack is built around proprietary components including tokenisation and vault solutions, SSL encryption, PCI DSS Level 1-compliant infrastructure, and machine-learning-based fraud detection. Payen is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registration 900043) as an authorised EMI, with segregated customer funds, mandatory capital requirements of at least €350,000, and registration with Visa and MasterCard as an approved technical provider. The firm operates from a London headquarters (with a registered office at 130 Wood Street and head office at 15 Stratton Street), a customer services office in Guildford, and a North American office in Vancouver.

Payen generates revenue primarily through three streams: transaction fees on payment processing (uploads, withdrawals, payments), percentage-based FX handling fees on currency conversions (where the company applies a wholesale exchange rate plus a margin, with its forex desk routing over £500m in annual trades), and eMoney issuance/redemption fees. Additional revenue is generated through administrative and penalty fees (e.g., £20 chargeback admin, £5 negative balance reminders, up to £200 remittance error fees). The company is privately held, has not publicly disclosed revenue, and operates with under 40 employees as of 2024, suggesting a bootstrapped or lightly capitalised operating model.

Name

Payen

Legal name

Payen Limited

Website

https://payen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Payen is a UK FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution that operates the pinPay platform, providing cross-border digital payment processing and FX services to online merchants and consumers across 90+ countries and 25 currencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cross-Border Payment Processing

NAICS

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

SIC

Functions Related To Depository Banking, Nec (6099)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Border & FX Payments Platforms (BPAMAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA), Payment Orchestration Platforms (FSAGABAA), Card Issuing Platforms (Issuer Processing) (FSAGABAD)

Keywords

• Cross-border payments
• Payment processing
• Foreign exchange services
• EMoney issuance
• Merchant payment solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Transaction Fees: Fees charged on payment transactions processed through the pinPay platform. Upload fees, withdrawal fees, and transaction fees are applied per action, as described in the Pricing section of the Payen website. Chargeback admin fees of £20 are also charged where applicable.
2. Foreign Exchange (FX) Handling Fees: Currency conversion fees applied when performing transactions that involve converting one currency to another — both within merchant website payments and when converting stored funds within a pinPay account. Payen applies a wholesale exchange rate plus a percentage-based handling fee. The company states its forex traders currently perform over £500m in trades annually.
3. eMoney Issuance and Redemption: Payen issues and redeems electronic money (eMoney) in accordance with the European Electronic Money Directive. Users can upload funds (generating eMoney), store balances, and withdraw funds. Fees may be charged on these issuance and redemption operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Payen operates the pinPay platform, an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution that processes cross-border digital payments in 90+ countries and 25 currencies. The platform delivers two core services: merchant Payment Services (acceptance, routing, clearing and settlement) and FX Services (currency conversion via an in-house trading desk), supported by proprietary tokenisation, AI-based fraud detection and PCI DSS Level 1 security.

Product overview

Payen operates as a unified platform centred on the pinPay brand, offering integrated payment services and FX services as its core modules. The pinPay platform provides both a Payment Service account (for merchant-based third-party payments and card storage) and an eMoney Service account (for fund uploads, voucher purchases, and withdrawals). The Payment Services module delivers acceptance, routing, and settlement capabilities, while the FX Services module enables multi-currency transactions across 90+ countries with dedicated forex portfolio management. Together, these components provide merchants with end-to-end cross-border payment facilitation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• pinPay Platform Flagship digital payment platform that enables users to make and receive cross-border payments, store card details securely, manage personal information, and view transaction history. It offers both a Payment Service account (for merchant-based third-party payments and card storage) and an eMoney Service account (for fund uploads, voucher purchases, and withdrawals).
• Payment Services Intelligent, adaptable and reliable payment solution for merchants offering increased acceptance, low-cost routing, cashflow optimisation, improved reliability, guaranteed security, and seamless clearing and settlement. Supports cross-border payments in 90+ countries and 25 currencies.
• FX Services Currency management and cross-border transfer services enabling merchants to accept and send payments in 90+ countries and 25 currencies, optimising costs through a portfolio of forex traders who perform over £500m in trades annually.

Quantifiable outcome

• Payen portfolio of forex traders currently perform £500m+ in trades annually
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators6 records

Direct peers

• Wise: Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a UK-headquartered cross-border payments platform serving consumers and businesses across 70+ countries with multi-currency accounts and FX services. It is the closest direct competitor to Payen's cross-border / FX payment proposition and eMoney-style account model.
• Remitly: Remitly is a digital remittances and cross-border payments company focused on immigrant corridors and emerging markets. It overlaps directly with Payen's cross-border payout, FX and emerging-market distribution capabilities.
• Currencycloud: Currencycloud (now part of Visa) provides FX and cross-border payment infrastructure APIs for fintechs and banks. It mirrors Payen's API-first, multi-currency, B2B orientation but with significantly greater scale and institutional backing.
• Payoneer: Payoneer provides cross-border payment, FX and multi-currency receiving accounts to SMBs, marketplaces and freelancers. It overlaps with Payen's merchant-facing cross-border and FX services for online businesses.
• WorldRemit: WorldRemit is a digital cross-border remittance and mobile money operator with strong emerging-market reach. Comparable to Payen on cross-border consumer and SMB payment flows, particularly in markets Payen explicitly targets.
• OFX: OFX is a cross-border payments and FX specialist serving individuals, SMBs and enterprises with multi-currency accounts and hedging tools. Its product set parallels Payen's FX and cross-border payment modules.
• dLocal: dLocal is a payments platform focused on emerging markets, enabling global merchants to accept local payment methods across LATAM, SSA and APAC. Directly comparable to Payen's emerging-market, local-routing proposition.

Broad incumbents

• Checkout.com: Checkout.com is a global PSP offering unified payment processing, FX and acquiring across multiple geographies. It is a broader incumbent competing with Payen on cross-border merchant acquiring and multi-currency processing at significantly greater scale.
• Stripe: Stripe is a global payments infrastructure provider offering APIs for online payment acceptance, with cross-border capabilities. It competes with Payen for online merchants requiring global, multi-currency payment acceptance, though at vastly larger scale and engineering depth.
• Adyen: Adyen is a global payments platform offering unified acquiring, processing and cross-border capabilities to enterprise merchants. It is a much larger incumbent in the same cross-border / multi-currency merchant payments space as Payen.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/payenuk

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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 Payen