UK government signs London fintech Judopay for digital payments

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
11th November 2020

The UK government has signed a contract with London-based fintech Judopay to drive adoption of digital payments in the public sector.

The start-up, which works with a host of fintechs, including Tide Bank and Chip, will put the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) payment acceptance framework into action. It is currently the only British fintech in the framework.

“Everything from tax payments to donations to charities” come under the framework

Founded in 2012, Judopay is a cloud-based mobile payments platform. It allows merchants to customise their checkouts, generate spending reports and protects payments with its self-built JudoShield.

Jeremy Nicholds, Judopay’s CEO, is an ex-Visa, Mastercard and NatWest exec. These two card-issuing giants are partners of Judopay.

Nicholds’ fintech will help every public sector organisation under the CCS framework reduce costs and friction around payments.

“Everything from tax payments to donations to charities” come under the framework, according to a release published by the start-up.

Judopay is “acquirer agnostic”, which means public sector bodies can use the solution “without having to uproot existing acquiring relationships”.

Urgency during COVID-19

The deal also arrives as COVID-19 highlights the urgent need for payments to be digitalised.

Data released by payments giant Square in August found 31% of businesses made the move to cashless payments by mid-July, from just 8% at the start of 2020.

That’s a 288% rise in digital payments on Square’s platform alone.

“Payments are fast becoming cashless – especially following the COVID-19 outbreak,” says Frederick Becker, a senior business consultant at Judopay.

“Moving forward, with the CCS, we will help public entities adapt to this environment, with digital and mobile-centric solutions that drive innovation in the sector.”