What Paynetics UK does

Paynetics UK Ltd is an FCA-authorized Electronic Money Institution (FCA reference 942777) and the wholly owned UK subsidiary of Paynetics AD, a Bulgarian-licensed e-money institution (licensed by the Bulgarian National Bank under Decision No. 44 of 11.04.2016). The company provides B2B payment infrastructure that enables non-financial firms — including PSPs, fintechs, program managers, large corporates, and banks — to embed payment accounts (with European IBANs and UK sort codes), issue virtual and physical Visa and Mastercard debit cards, accept card payments (e-commerce and POS, including softPOS), and access PSD2 Open Banking services (PISP/AISP) via APIs and SDKs. The platform is differentiated by dual regulatory licensing across the UK and EU (with passporting), principal-level card scheme memberships, and direct membership in SWIFT, SEPA, and FasterPayments rails.

The product suite is organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture. Core capabilities include the Embedded Finance Suite, a White Label Financial Super-app that can be launched to Apple App Store and Google Play within eight weeks, BIN Sponsorship (allowing partners to issue cards as direct scheme members without negotiating with Visa or Mastercard), and an Acquiring Suite for PSPs/ISOs featuring a "virtual bank" with instant settlement. These are supported by value-added services — onboarding and KYC/KYB, settlement and reconciliation, AML and fraud monitoring, and cross-selling of additional financial services including lending and digital asset on/off-ramp transactions. Card processing is delivered through a partnership with THURSD/GPS, and banking infrastructure through CurrencyCloud.

The business operates through direct enterprise sales and developer-driven API adoption, with a developer portal (developers.paynetics.digital) and partner portal (partner.payoo.digital) forming the channel backbone. Revenue is generated through a mix of recurring subscription fees (payment account services, white-label deployments, value-added services), transaction fees (card issuing and acquiring), and licensing-style arrangements (BIN Sponsorship). Named clients include Trading 212, DNA Payments, Weavr, Vivacom (Pay by Vivacom), A1 Wallet, SmartOne, Fibonatix, TBI Bank, Benamic, Ad Cards, billbutler, and Microcredit, spanning fintech, payments, telecom, banking, and SMB verticals across the UK, EU, and additional markets. The company is privately held with no public listing.

Name

Paynetics UK

Legal name

Paynetics UK Ltd

Website

https://paynetics.digital

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Paynetics UK Ltd is an FCA-authorized e-money institution and wholly owned subsidiary of Paynetics AD, providing API-first B2B payment infrastructure — including payment accounts, card issuing, acquiring, BIN sponsorship, and PSD2 Open Banking — to PSPs, fintechs, program managers, corporates, and banks across the UK and EU.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Embedded Finance / Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Other Nondepository Credit Intermediation (52229), Credit Card Issuing (522210)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

A2A Checkout & Merchant Acceptance Solutions (FSAMAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

General-Purpose Debit Card Schemes (FSAMAAAB), Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) & Local Rails (ACH/SEPA/UPI, etc.) (CRAFALAG), A2A Collections & Direct Account Funding (FSAMAFAH), Private-Label & Store Card Schemes (FSAMAAAE), SME & Business Cross-Border Payments (B2B) (FSAMAIAB)

Keywords

• Embedded finance platform
• Payment infrastructure APIs
• Card issuing
• Card acquiring
• Open banking APIs

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Account Services: Revenue from providing individual and business payment accounts with dedicated IBANs and UK account numbers, including SEPA credit, SEPA Instant, FasterPayments and local non-Euro settlement services.
2. Card Issuing: Virtual and physical Visa and Mastercard card issuance with Apple and Google Pay enablement, branded card programs through BIN sponsorship model.
3. Card Acquiring: E-commerce and POS payment processing for merchants, including softPOS solutions, with discount rates and transaction fees per the UK Acquiring Terms & Conditions.
4. White Label Solutions: Branded digital banking app deployment with 8-week launch timeline, custom pricing plans for end-customers.
5. BIN Sponsorship: Regulatory cover and settlement services for card issuers without direct scheme membership, providing freedom from negotiating with Visa or Mastercard directly.
6. Value-Added Services: Onboarding and KYC/KYB, cross-selling financial products, settlement and reconciliation, AML and fraud monitoring services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Paynetics UK provides an API-first B2B payment infrastructure that lets partners embed payment accounts with European IBANs and UK sort codes, issue virtual and physical Visa/Mastercard cards, accept card payments, and access PSD2 open banking services. Its standalone product offerings include the Embedded Finance Suite, a White Label Financial Super-app, BIN Sponsorship, and the Acquiring Suite, complemented by Payment Accounts and Transfers, Card Issuing, Card Acquiring, Open Banking, Onboarding/Compliance, Cross-Selling Financial Services, Settlement and Reconciliation, and AML/Fraud Monitoring.

Product overview

Paynetics is a dual-regulated e-money institution (licensed by the Bulgarian National Bank for EU operations and by the FCA for UK operations) providing an end-to-end payments platform. The offering is structured as a platform-plus-modules architecture built around: (1) Embedded Finance Suite as the core embedded banking capability enabling payment accounts, card issuance, and transfers; (2) White Label Financial Super-app for launching branded digital banking apps; (3) BIN Sponsorship for direct card scheme access; and (4) Acquiring Suite for merchant payment acceptance. These core products are supported by value-added services including Open Banking (PSD2 PISP/AISP), Onboarding and KYC/KYB compliance, Settlement and Reconciliation, Cross-selling Additional Financial Services, and AML and Fraud Monitoring. The company operates across European payment rails including SEPA, FasterPayments, and card networks (Visa, Mastercard) with dedicated IBANs and UK sort codes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• White-label financial app deployment in 8 weeks
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 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

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• VisacoreTechnology or IntegrationPrincipal member of Visa for card issuing and direct member for card acquiring. Enables virtual and physical Visa card issuance with Apple and Google Pay enablement.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrincipal member of Mastercard for card issuing and direct member for card acquiring. Enables virtual and physical Mastercard card issuance with tokenization support.
• THURSD/GPScoreTechnology or IntegrationCard processing partner for Paynetics card issuing services, processing virtual and physical cards.
• CurrencyCloudsupportingTechnology or IntegrationBanking partner providing currency and banking infrastructure services in partnership with Paynetics.
• SWIFTcoreTechnology or IntegrationDirect member of SWIFT for international payment messaging and settlement services.
• Paynetics ADcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company and wholly-owned subsidiary relationship. Paynetics AD is the EU-licensed e-money institution (Bulgarian National Bank) that developed, owns, operates and maintains the proprietary Paynetics System for e-money issuance, payment accounts, IBAN/sort code association, and payment transaction execution. UK entity is wholly owned subsidiary licensed by FCA.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Checkout.com: Global payments platform offering unified card acquiring, issuing, and banking-as-a-service. Closely comparable to Paynetics in combining merchant acquiring with embedded payment accounts and card issuing for partners.
• PPRO: Payment orchestration platform providing acquiring, APM aggregation, and processing infrastructure for PSPs and merchants. Comparable to Paynetics in serving PSPs and PSP-ISOs with cross-rail acquiring and processing APIs.
• Currencycloud: Cross-border payments and FX infrastructure provider for fintechs and PSPs, now part of Visa. Comparable to Paynetics' SWIFT-enabled cross-border capabilities and its partnership stack for embedded finance.
• Banking Circle: B2B payments infrastructure provider offering payment accounts, acquiring, and FX/cross-border settlement in Europe. Comparable in its regulated EMI positioning and focus on PSP and fintech clients, similar to Paynetics' go-to-market.
• TrueLayer: European PSD2 open banking provider offering PISP and AISP APIs. Directly comparable to Paynetics' Open Banking offering via BISTRA standard, with overlapping fintech and PSP customer base in UK and EU.
• Marqeta: Modern card-issuing platform serving fintechs and program managers with API-first issuing and processing. Directly comparable on Visa/Mastercard issuing and BIN sponsorship mechanics, though at much larger scale and public-company status.
• Treezor: European banking-as-a-service platform (acquired by Société Générale) providing payment accounts, card issuing, and KYC services as a regulated entity. Directly comparable to Paynetics' embedded finance and card-issuing model for non-bank brands.
• Modulr: UK-based B2B payments infrastructure provider offering payment accounts, card issuing, and open banking APIs. Highly comparable to Paynetics in scope, regulatory positioning (FCA-authorized), and target customer segments (PSPs, fintechs, corporates).

Broad incumbents

• Adyen: Global, publicly listed payments platform providing unified acquiring, processing, and issuing. Comparable in the unified acquiring-plus-issuing proposition, but serves enterprise merchants at much larger scale than Paynetics.
• Stripe: Global payments platform with embedded finance, issuing, and acquiring capabilities. Overlaps with Paynetics in API-first payment infrastructure, but operates a far broader portfolio across many geographies and verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/paynetics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Paynetics UK