Global B2B payments platform Nium has, on June 7, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Ixaris, a London-based payment optimisation company.
The transaction is slated to close in the 2Q2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
The acquisition will help Nium better execute on its vision to provide one API integration to access the world’s payments infrastructure.
Through the Nium platform, customers can now deploy new financial services quickly – from card issuance to cross-border payments.
Ixaris, which comes with an extensive portfolio of virtual Mastercard and Visa cards that help companies make smarter payment choices, provides flexible and funding payment methods that help airlines and online travel agents reduce surcharges, earn rebates, flatten foreign exchange (forex) fees and streamline reconciliation.
The company is also a principal member of both Visa and Mastercard and has processed 24 million transactions for over 200 customers in over 40 countries for a total payment volume of £5 billion ($9.37 billion).
Ixaris is best known for transforming the travel payments industry with Europe’s first virtual prepaid card in 2003.
All of Ixaris’ 86 companies in London and Malta will join the Nium family.
“Airlines and online travel agents are actively transforming their technologies and processes in anticipation of a surge in global travel happening this year,” says Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO, Nium.
“The travel industry has long been dependent on slow-moving, monolithic payment platforms. Our acquisition will serve to replace these incumbents with a modern solution that combines Ixaris’ leading virtual card capability with Nium’s advanced pay-in, pay-out and embedded foreign exchange capabilities. We welcome the Ixaris team to the Nium family and together we look forward to helping the travel sector bounce back across the globe,” he adds.
Mark Anthony Spiteri, COO and Acting CEO, Ixaris Group, adds, “As part of the Nium family, we can offer the broadest portfolio of virtual card offerings to travel businesses across the globe. All aspects of our company, from our technologies to our people, perfectly complement Nium and we look forward to increasing our geographic footprint to new regions, including the United States.”
Financial Technology Partners served as Nium’s strategic and financial advisor for the acquisition.
