UK BaaS Railsbank lands $37m for US credit expansion

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
13th November 2020

Railsbank, the London-based banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider, has landed $37 million in “continued equity funding” for its international growth.

Co-led by existing investors MiddleGame Ventures – whose accelerator Railsbank was born out of – and Ventura Capital, the funding will power its credit-cards-as-a-service offering in the US.

To launch credit-cards-as-a-service, Railsbank has rolled out a number of other products which form its “backbone”. These include cards-as-a-service, compliance-as-a-service and credit-as-a-service.

Southeast Asia expansion

“Railsbank [is] set out on a mission to be a truly global platform.”

The fresh funding will also underpin its current expansion in Southeast Asia. As well as firm up its presence in the UK and wider Europe.

“The growth in fintechs [in Southeast Asia] is powered by local and regional micro and macro trends,” says Justin Xiao, Railsbank’s Southeast Asia chief operating officer (COO).

“Such as regulators changing the rules on banking, and increasing the adoption of super apps and e-wallets,” says

Fellow investors behind the $37 million include Anthos Capital, Global Brains, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Moneta VC, Mitsui Fudosan and Firestartr.

The latest funding adds to its $10 million Series A in September 2019. To date, the start-up has raised $51.4 million.

Uninterrupted vision

Nigel Verdon, Railsbank’s co-founder and CEO, claims the fintech hasn’t pivoted its vision once since starring out in 2016.

The start-up’s vision is one of embedded finance. Verdon says building out its credit and data-based offerings has meant any interchangeable product – be that money, telco minutes or kilowatt hours – can be spent as money.

The fintech’s COO in North America, Dov Marmor, adds: “BaaS platforms have remained stubbornly local in a world that has become increasingly global.

“Railsbank [is] set out on a mission to be a truly global platform for prototyping, building, and scaling any financial product across multiple continents.”

Part of this vision saw the fintech buy Wirecard’s UK arm WCS in September. The transaction saw WCS card technology and assets in the UK go to Railsbank. Client relationships also “in effect transfer[red]” to the fintech.