UK payments fintech Atoa secures $6.5m in seed funding
Summary
Atoas previous investors, including Monzo and Tide backer Passion Capital, and Singapore based Leo Capital (having experience of card alternative models in India and Asia) have also continued their support in this round.Fighting Visa and Mastercards stranglehold on the high streetUnfavourable economic conditions, the pandemic and repeated rises in inflation have hit UK SMBs hard. In addition, Atoa quote the Coalition for a Digital Economy (COADEC) and its claim that the cost of payments has risen by up to 44% since 2016.Atoa allows consumers to pay in-store using an instant bank transfer. This saves merchants from crippling payment fees and offers immediate set-up and improved cash flow. Customers can simply approve the payment via their existing banking app.In the UK, \xa3850bn worth of debit card transactions are processed every year.A 70% saving on fees for merchants with account-to-account payments powered by Open BankingCurrently, Mastercard and Visa collectively hold more than 98% of the market. Atoa argue that such outfits instead merely slot themselves onto the existing rails of Visa and Mastercard.Atoa launched in June 2022 and reports 60% month-on-month growth in payments processed.