Weavr weaves in B2B open banking platform Comma

London-based fintech Weavr has confirmed the acquisition of B2B open banking platform, Comma Payments - according to Weavr it's a first-of-its-kind deal within the world of embedded finance. 

Largely equity-based, the deal will see Weavr retain most of Comma’s current workforce, including the company’s CEO and founder, Tom Beckenham, and its CTO, Gianluca Pengo. 

This acquisition puts Weavr in the unique position of becoming the first embedded-finance provider to bring together Banking as a Service (BaaS) and open banking into an optimised embeddable payment solution for B2B applications ranging from payroll, accounts payable, and other forms of mass payments.  

The main difference between open banking and BaaS centers around how APIs are used: BaaS uses APIs to access banking functionality, whereas open banking uses APIs to access consumer data. If they look the same, it's because they're made of the same elements.

“This is the latest, and perhaps most exciting, step in Weavr’s recent growth journey and puts the company in the best position possible to deliver even more value for our ever-expanding customer base. Comma has created the best B2B open banking payment solution we’ve ever seen, which is now available to our users,” says Alex Mifsud, co-founder and CEO of Weavr.

Since receiving a $40 million Series A funding round in early 2022, Weavr has more than tripled its user base and experienced a huge surge in transactions through its platform, with growth of over 340% in just 12 months.

This marriage made in banking heaven will now give customers a smooth ride when making payments via open banking. Comma’s technology can be embedded into Weavr’s B2B  financial software to enable data driven payments for the first time. Businesses can save time and cost by making bulk payments for processes such as accounts payable and payroll processes, while greatly reducing the risk of manual errors – music to the ears of small business owners.

“We’ve watched Weavr’s growth closely and saw synergies with their plug-and-play model that could have greatly benefited our customers. We are delighted to be joining forces and to be part of the journey. With Comma teaming up with Weavr, the combined company can begin to offer a first-of-its-kind service that will greatly benefit customers across multiple sectors,” says Tom Beckenham, Comma’s founder and CEO.