By Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON (Reuters) – JPMorgan has agreed to buy U.S. firm Renovate to expand its payments processing business and take a stake in a lucrative sector where major banks face stiff competition from financial technology firms.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Renovite, which has a presence in India and the United Kingdom, provides cloud-native technology to simplify payment processing across a wide range of products and has around 140 employees, including about 125 engineers.
“This acquisition will help us achieve our goal of developing a next-generation payment processing platform globally,” said Max Neukirchen, global head of payments and commerce solutions at JPMorgan.
Renovite founder and CEO Viren Rana has described JPMorgan’s payments division as the “natural home” for the company’s employees and technology.
The deal will give the bank a broader and more efficient payment platform that offers more payment methods. It will also help it compete with fintech companies like Stripe and Adyen in digital payments.
The move follows a move this year to buy 49% of Athens-based fintech payments Viva Wallet and a majority stake in Volkswagen’s payments business, ahead of the launch of in-car technology that allows drivers to automatically pay for fuel or tolls.
