Paybase

What Paybase does

Paybase is a UK-headquartered, FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution that provides an API-first platform delivering payments, compliance, and risk infrastructure to platform economy businesses. Originally founded in 2013 as the consumer P2P app Payfriendz, the company rebranded and pivoted in 2017 to its current B2B Paybase Platform, built on a modern stack (React, React Native, Node.js, Kubernetes, Python, Ruby on Rails) and a graph database for KYC workflows. The platform unifies eMoney accounts, payment routing, split payments, escrow, recurring payments, banking lite, loyalty programmes, and a Rules Engine and Event Engine for customisable transaction logic and real-time webhooks, replacing the multiple integrations (BIN sponsor, KYC provider, PSP, acquirer, banking partner) that legacy providers require.

Core products include the Console (a real-time management dashboard) and the Risk Suite (transaction monitoring and financial crime prevention, awarded the TECA Outstanding New Product Award in October 2019). The company is authorised under PSD2 as a PISP and AISP, certified to Level 1 PCI DSS, and GDPR compliant, with banking partners Allied Irish Banks and First Merchant Processing (Ireland) underpinning its processing stack. Its registered legal entity, Paybase GmbH, sits in Berlin, giving it a foothold for EU operations.

Paybase earns revenue through a hybrid of per-transaction fees (1.4% plus 20p for incoming card payments, 50p per UK Faster Payments payout) and monthly platform fees (40p per active user, 80p per active business), with bespoke enterprise pricing for larger clients. It targets online marketplaces, gig economy platforms, sharing economy platforms, FinTechs, and blockchain businesses, distributing through a combination of consultative enterprise field sales and a developer self-serve model backed by sandbox API access and comprehensive documentation.

Name

Paybase

Legal name

Paybase GmbH

Website

https://paybase.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Paybase is a UK FCA-authorised fintech that provides an API-first payments, compliance, and risk platform for marketplaces, gig economy, sharing economy, FinTech, and blockchain businesses, combining eMoney accounts, split payments, escrow, and risk monitoring into a single integration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Sales Financing (52222)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Marketplace & Platform Seller Payouts (FSAMAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Payouts, Disbursements & Mass Payments Infrastructure (FSAGABAN), Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB), Cross-Border B2B2C Payouts (Mass Payouts, Gig/Creator, Marketplace) (FSAGAKAC), Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE)

Keywords

• Payment infrastructure
• Marketplace payments
• Payment compliance platform
• E-money services
• Transaction routing

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing - Card: Transaction-based fees on card payments: 1.4% + 20p per transaction for incoming card payments. Revenue scales with transaction volume.
2. Payment Processing - Payout: 50p per payout via UK Faster Payments for outgoing transfers. Additional platform fee of 40p per active user per month and 80p per active business per month.
3. Platform Fees: Monthly platform fees per active user (40p) and active business (80p) provide recurring revenue component alongside transaction fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Paybase provides an end-to-end payments, compliance, and risk platform delivered via a single API for marketplaces, gig/sharing economy platforms, FinTechs, and blockchain businesses. The platform offers eMoney accounts, payment routing, split payments, escrow, recurring payments, banking lite, and loyalty programmes. As an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution (PSD2 and PCI DSS Level 1 compliant), Paybase enables clients to embed regulated payment infrastructure without obtaining their own EMI licence.

Product overview

Paybase offers a unified platform architecture centered on the Paybase Platform — an end-to-end payments, compliance, and risk solution delivered through a single API. The platform consists of core components including eMoney accounts, payment routing, split payments, and escrow functionality, complemented by modular capabilities such as the Console (real-time dashboard), Rules Engine (customizable transaction logic), Event Engine (webhook-based integrations), and Risk Suite (transaction monitoring and fraud prevention). The platform supports white-label deployment and targets marketplaces, gig/sharing economy platforms, fintechs, and blockchain businesses. Paybase also maintains the Payfriendz consumer P2P app as a separate brand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Paybase Platform End-to-end payments, compliance, and risk platform delivered via a single API, providing eMoney accounts, payment routing, split payments, escrow, recurring payments, banking lite, and loyalty programmes to online marketplaces, gig/sharing economy platforms, FinTechs, and blockchain businesses.
• Payfriendz Consumer-facing peer-to-peer money transfer application that allows users to send money using mobile phone contacts. Maintained as a separate brand while Paybase pivoted to B2B payments infrastructure.

Quantifiable outcome

• At least 50% cheaper than largest charity fundraising platform at highest pricing tier
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 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

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Allied Irish Banks plccoreTechnology or IntegrationBanking partner enabling the full range of payment services. Works with Paybase to provide payment infrastructure including account access and fund transfers.
• First Merchant Processing (Ireland) Designated Activity CompanycoreTechnology or IntegrationMerchant processing partner providing payment transaction processing services as part of Paybase's payment infrastructure stack.
• Card Schemes (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro)coreTechnology or IntegrationPayment card networks through which Paybase processes card transactions. Compliance with card scheme rules required for operation.

Scale indicators4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mangopay: Mangopay is a payment infrastructure provider purpose-built for marketplaces, gig economy, and platform businesses across Europe. It offers eWallets, escrow, split payments, KYC/AML, and PSD2-compliant rails — a near-direct competitor to Paybase in the same customer verticals and product category.
• Modulr: Modulr is a UK FCA-authorised EMI providing payments-as-a-service and embedded banking infrastructure via API. Like Paybase, it targets platforms and fintechs needing PSD2-compliant payment accounts, payouts, and bulk payments infrastructure.
• Weavr: Weavr provides embedded finance infrastructure (accounts, cards, payments, compliance) for B2B SaaS and platform businesses via a single API. It competes with Paybase in enabling platforms to embed financial services without becoming a regulated entity themselves.
• Treezor: Treezor is a French payment institution offering Banking-as-a-Service and payment infrastructure for fintechs, marketplaces, and corporates across the EU. Its scope (accounts, KYC, payments, cards, SEPA) directly overlaps Paybase's platform offering for platform-economy clients.
• Lemonway: Lemonway is a European payment institution specialised in marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms, and B2B2C ecosystems. It provides segregated e-wallets, KYC, and PSD2-compliant payment processing — a near-identical target customer and product profile to Paybase.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe Connect: Stripe Connect is the marketplace/platform arm of Stripe, offering split payments, KYC, payouts, and multi-party payment flows via API. It serves the same marketplace/gig/sharing platform customers as Paybase but with vastly greater global reach, capital, and developer ecosystem.
• Adyen: Adyen is a global payment platform offering unified acquiring, payouts, and platform/marketplace payment flows. Its platforms business (formerly Adyen MarketPay) competes with Paybase for enterprise marketplace and gig economy clients, though Adyen operates at much larger scale.
• Checkout.com: Checkout.com is a global payments processor serving large platforms, marketplaces, and digital businesses. While broader than Paybase's offering, it competes for the same enterprise platform clients and increasingly bundles marketplace-specific flows and payouts.

Emerging players

• ClearBank: ClearBank is a UK clearing bank providing real-time payment infrastructure, embedded banking, and BaaS-style services via API. It addresses a similar fintech/platform infrastructure opportunity as Paybase but with full banking licence scope and broader payment-rail coverage.
• TrueLayer: TrueLayer is a UK open-banking API provider offering PISP/AISP functionality under PSD2, similar to Paybase's open-banking capabilities. It serves fintechs and platforms needing account-to-account payments and data connectivity, overlapping with Paybase's PSD2 value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/paybase
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/paybase

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

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 Paybase