Santander, through the Santander InnoVentures Fund, announces a $5m investment in mobile payment and loyalty provider, MyCheck, in return for a minority equity stake in the business. The investment kicks-off MyCheck’s Series B funding round. The venture will allow Santander’s retail and commercial customers around the world to benefit from MyCheck’s innovative technology that allows users to check into venues, pay securely, and receive relevant offers and information from their smart device.
MyCheck, founded in Israel in 2011, is reinventing the payment experience in hospitality by focusing on Point-of-Sale integration and user experience to increase customer engagement and consumer satisfaction. The company has seen 320% growth in transaction volumes in the last six months after shifting to a technology platform approach, focusing entirely on enabling the payment experience in private label apps for restaurant groups and chains, and providing “MyCheck Inside” capabilities to other app providers that want to reach the hospitality market.
The funds from Santander will be used to accelerate MyCheck’s international expansion, especially across the U.S and Western Europe, bolster sales and marketing, and enhance business intelligence capabilities. As part of the deal, MyCheck will be able to leverage Santander’s expertise and scale, reaching over 100 million retail and commercial customers across ten main markets in Europe and the Americas.
The investment highlights Santander’s philosophy of collaboration and partnership with small and startup companies and strengthens Santander’s position as an enabler for the pioneers of financial technology. MyCheck will become part of a network of trusted partners who work together with Santander to address customer needs, while continuing to build Santander’s growing global digital offering.
Mariano Belinky, Managing Director of the Santander InnoVentures Fund, said: “We established the InnoVentures Fund to support startup Fintech companies who are at the cutting edge of digital delivery of financial services and in MyCheck we have found this. The investment in MyCheck highlights our leadership in financial technology, investing in services which seek to benefit customers in their everyday financial transactions.”
Shlomit Kugler, Co-Founder and CEO of MyCheck, said: “Santander is an ideal investor and partner for MyCheck. The company shares our vision and our passion for financial technology that improves the lives of people and helps businesses and economies to grow. We have already secured hundreds of thousands of users. With Santander’s support we can scale rapidly and capitalise on our leadership position in the hospitality sector. This investment is a validation of MyCheck’s market proposition, its business model, its technology and its people. We’re proud to have this vote of confidence from Santander and be one of the first to receive an investment from their Innoventures Fund.”
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