What Key IVR does

Key IVR (legal entity: Key IVR Ltd) is a UK-headquartered payment services provider founded in 2008 by Darren Wooding in Doncaster. The company builds and operates a cloud-based omnichannel payment platform that enables organisations — particularly contact centres, housing associations, debt collection and enforcement firms, utility suppliers, and financial services — to accept credit and debit card payments over the telephone and adjacent digital channels without bringing their own contact centre environment into PCI-DSS scope. The platform is anchored by a proprietary DTMF masking and suppression technology that prevents card data from being captured in customer telephony infrastructure, complemented by AI-powered Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for voice capture, agent-assisted payment modules, click-to-pay, secure web payments, Open Banking pay-by-bank, direct debit, and cryptocurrency payment options. The platform exposes RESTful APIs and SFTP integrations connecting to more than 20 contact centre platforms (Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, Five9, NICE CXone, Talkdesk, Amazon Connect, Zoom, RingCentral, 8x8, Puzzel), major CRMs (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Zendesk), and 25+ payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Elavon, Cardstream, Worldline, Global Payments, Checkout.com, Cybersource, and others). Key IVR holds PCI-DSS v4.0 Level 1, ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, SecureTech accreditation, and Microsoft Silver Partner status.

The company's monetisation rests on a mix of per-transaction payment processing fees on processed volume (the dominant stream), recurring platform subscription fees, and bespoke professional services for enterprise implementations. Go-to-market is sales-led, combining direct enterprise field sales targeted at compliance-sensitive verticals, an inside-sales motion for mid-market and shorter-cycle deals, and a channel partner programme through 60+ integration and reseller partners (including Elavon, Bottomline Technologies, Total Payments, Cardstream, and Voyager Networks). As of 2023 Key IVR processed $2.2B+ in annual payment volume across 230+ active clients and 60+ partners, with offices in Doncaster (UK), Austin and New York (US), and Chișinău (Moldova) and a team of approximately 60.

Key IVR has remained bootstrapped and founder-led since inception, with no disclosed external venture capital or private equity investment. Ownership is concentrated with founder-CEO Darren Wooding, supported by a compact senior team including CCO/VP International Sales Mark Kelly, Head of Technology Cristina Gupca, Head of IT Chris Cairns, and Head of Partnerships Dianne Smith. Recurring product investment continues across Open Banking, digital payment channels, and contact centre integrations, with notable 2026 launches including Recurring Pay By Bank and Click-to-Pay for Zoom Contact Center.

Name

Key IVR

Legal name

Key IVR Ltd

Website

https://keyivr.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Key IVR is a UK-founded, PCI-DSS Level 1 certified cloud payment platform that enables contact centres, housing associations, debt collectors, utilities, and financial services firms to accept secure card, Open Banking, and alternative payments by phone and digital channels without exposing their environments to card data.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud Payment Processing Software (PCI-DSS Compliant Telephony & Omnichannel Payments)

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Payment Gateways & Orchestration (BPAMAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Payment Gateways & API Connectivity (FSAGABAB), A2A Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) (FSAMAFAB)

Keywords

• Cloud payment processing
• PCI DSS compliance
• IVR payment solutions
• Contact centre payments
• Telephony payment automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Armthorpe

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Transaction / Payment Processing Fees: Key IVR earns a fee per payment transaction processed through its platform. This is the primary revenue driver, with revenue scaling in proportion to payment volumes handled on behalf of clients. Given the $2.2+ billion in annual payment volume processed, transaction fees represent the dominant revenue stream.
2. Subscription / Recurring Platform Fees: Clients pay recurring subscription fees for access to the Key IVR payment platform, including IVR flows, agent-assisted payment modules, reporting, and support. These may be tiered based on volume, features, or number of contact centre seats.
3. Professional Services: Key IVR generates revenue from professional services including implementation, custom integration, and configuration engagements, particularly for enterprise clients with complex contact centre environments and bespoke requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Key IVR provides a cloud-based PCI-DSS Level 1 certified payment platform that enables organisations and contact centres to accept secure card payments across telephone (IVR and agent-assisted), web, SMS, WhatsApp, and mobile channels. The platform combines DTMF masking and AI-powered Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to descope sensitive card data from client environments, and integrates with 150+ CRMs, billing systems, telephony platforms, and payment gateways via API and SFTP.

Product overview

Key IVR is a secure cloud-based payment automation platform providing PCI-DSS compliant payment solutions across telephone, web, SMS, and mobile channels. The platform operates on a modular architecture centred on core payment processing products (Agent Assisted Payments, Payment IVR, Click-to-Pay, Secure Web Payments, Merchant Services) enhanced by supplementary modules for omnichannel engagement (Outbound Voice/SMS/WhatsApp, Web Chat and Social Media Payments, Mobile Payment App) and alternative payment methods (Pay By Bank/Open Banking, Direct Debit, Cryptocurrency Payments, Agent Digital ECOM, Digital Payment IVR). The product portfolio is unified by a single PCI-DSS Level 1 certified infrastructure processing over $2.2 billion annually across 150+ integration connections, enabling organisations to take payments while descoping their own environments from sensitive card data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agent Assisted Payments PCI-compliant card payment solution for telephone transactions enabling contact centre agents to securely process payments while staying on calls with customers, using DTMF suppression technology to ensure card data never enters the contact centre environment. Targeted at contact centres, debt collection firms, housing associations, and utilities that take payments over the phone.
• Payment IVR Automated, branded telephony payment system operating 24/7 that enables customers to complete card payments independently via IVR without agent involvement. Targeted at organisations that handle high volumes of routine telephone bill payments.
• Click-to-Pay Pay-by-link service sending personalised SMS or email payment links to individual recipients, linking to auto-filled payment portals for convenient secure checkout. Targeted at organisations wanting to keep agents on calls while customers complete payment on a separate device.
• Secure Web Payments Fully-branded PCI DSS Level 1 secure online payment portal integrated with existing business systems for card-not-present web transactions. Targeted at organisations seeking a compliant web checkout integrated with their CRM and back-office.
• Merchant Services Comprehensive merchant payment services enabling organisations to accept and process card payments across multiple channels. Targets businesses seeking an integrated card acceptance partner across voice and digital.
• Outbound Voice, SMS & WhatsApp Outbound communication services enabling organisations to reach customers via voice calls, SMS, and WhatsApp messaging for payment reminders and collection campaigns. Targets businesses running outbound payment reminder and collection workflows.
• Web Chat and Social Media Payments Payment processing capabilities integrated into web chat and social media platforms enabling customers to complete secure transactions during digital conversations. Targets organisations taking payments via chat-based customer service channels.
• Mobile Payment App Mobile application synchronising with household Smart Meters for instant and convenient top-up of gas and electricity payments. Targeted at utility customers and end-user consumers in the energy sector.
• Pay By Bank (Open Banking) Instant bank-to-bank transfer payments powered by Open Banking technology, enabling customers to pay directly from their bank account without entering card details. Also offered as recurring payment option. Targets organisations seeking lower-cost, non-card payment rails.
• Direct Debit Payments Automated Direct Debit payment platform enabling organisations to collect recurring payments with 24/7 self-service options, payment reminders, and integration capabilities. Targets organisations with recurring billing relationships.
• Cryptocurrency Payments Cryptocurrency payment acceptance service supporting Bitcoin and altcoin payments via website, email, SMS, or telephone, with conversion to 126 currencies. Targets organisations seeking to accept cryptocurrency alongside traditional payment methods.
• Agent Digital ECOM Pay-by-link solution for over-the-phone payments enabling agents to stay connected with customers while they complete secure transactions via received SMS or email links, supporting 3DS2 multi-factor authentication. Targets contact centres seeking agent-assisted payment flows with reduced PCI scope and stronger authentication.
• Digital Payment IVR Extended Payment IVR integrating ECOM transactions with 3DS2 multi-factor authentication for stronger verification, reduced chargebacks, and ECOM transaction capabilities. Targets organisations seeking to combine IVR self-service with authenticated e-commerce style transactions.

Quantifiable outcome

• $2.2+ billion in annual payment volume processed
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration47 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Total PaymentscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024Total Payments is a strategic payment gateway partner of Key IVR, enabling Key IVR's IVR and agent-assisted payment flows to route transactions through Total Payments' processing infrastructure. This partnership extends Key IVR's reach into the US market and expands payment acceptance options for shared clients. The partnership was highlighted in a 2024 news article.
• Bottomline TechnologiescoreTechnology or IntegrationBottomline Technologies is a long-standing integration partner providing payment automation and digitisation solutions. Key IVR integrates with Bottomline's platform to enable seamless payment processing for clients that use Bottomline's payment management tools, particularly in the contact centre and financial services sectors.
• CardstreamcoreTechnology or IntegrationCardstream is a long-standing payment gateway partner providing the underlying transaction routing and processing connectivity for Key IVR's IVR payment flows. The partnership has been maintained over multiple years and forms a core part of Key IVR's payment infrastructure stack.
• Voyager NetworkscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVoyager Networks serves as an IT Solutions partner introducing Key IVR's payment platform to its customer base of contact centres and enterprise organisations requiring PCI-compliant phone payment solutions. Voyager Networks acts as a value-added reseller incorporating Key IVR into its broader IT and communications offerings.
• ElavoncoreTechnology or IntegrationElavon is a major US-based payment processing firm and a key partner enabling Key IVR to process payments for US-based clients. Key IVR integrates with Elavon's payment gateway to provide IVR payment capabilities to Elavon's US merchant customer base, with the partnership serving as a core component of Key IVR's North American go-to-market strategy.
• Transaction Services (TRX)coreTechnology or IntegrationTransaction Services (TRX) provides US-based automated payment and IVR services that integrate with Key IVR's platform, enabling joint clients to access automated payment processing across both companies' service offerings in the US market.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Eckoh plc: UK-listed provider of secure payment solutions for contact centres, with overlapping DTMF masking, agent-assisted, and self-service IVR payment offerings targeting the same enterprise and regulated verticals as Key IVR.
• PCI Pal: Cloud-based secure payments provider focused on contact centre PCI compliance and DTMF masking, with very similar product architecture (PCI Pal Platform, Agent Assist, IVR) and target verticals as Key IVR.
• Semafone (Sysnet): Pioneer of DTMF masking technology for contact centre payment security; now part of Sysnet, offering a near-identical product suite for telephone-based PCI-compliant payments as Key IVR.
• Syntec Business Technology: UK-based provider of contact centre payment solutions including Cardeasy (DTMF masking and agent-assisted payments), competing directly with Key IVR in the UK mid-market and enterprise contact centre space.
• Spreedly: Payment orchestration platform providing API-driven connectivity across gateways, tokenisation, and vault services — overlapping with Key IVR's API-first payment orchestration layer, particularly for omnichannel acceptance.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments platform with Stripe Terminal, Stripe Connect, and a broad API surface; while not IVR-native, Stripe has the resources to extend into PCI-compliant telephone payments and represents a structural incumbent threat.
• Adyen: Global enterprise payment processor serving unified commerce across online, mobile, and in-person; offers tokenisation and omnichannel orchestration at scale, posing a competitive threat if it extends deeper into telephone/IVR payments.
• Worldpay (FIS): Global enterprise payment processor under FIS offering telephony, IVR, and agent-assisted payment solutions alongside its core acquiring business; broad incumbent alternative for large contact-centre deployments.

Emerging players

• Trust Payments: Multi-acquirer payment gateway with IVR and recurring payments capabilities; more focused on transaction processing than specialised PCI-DSS IVR compliance, but competes for similar UK enterprise clients.

Regional players

• Opayo (Sage Pay): UK-focused payment gateway serving SMB and mid-market merchants with card-not-present and IVR/telephone payment capabilities; comparable product breadth though less deep on PCI-DSS compliance specialisation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/key_IVR
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/KeyIVRLtd
• Facebookfacebook.com/Key-IVR-285394908531047
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/key-ivr
• Instagraminstagram.com/keyivr

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 Key IVR