Finovate Global Ireland: Innovations in Payments, Regtech, and Debt Consolidation

This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from Ireland.

NomuPay secures $37 million at a valuation of $200 million

Dublin, Ireland-based fintech NomuPay announced an investment of $37 million this week. The funding round, which began in September, gives the company a valuation of $200 million. The company will leverage the new capital to help accelerate the expansion of unified payment access in Asia.

“Over the past two years, we’ve grown our revenue by 100% annually and are on track to become profitable this year with an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $20 million,” NomuPay’s Faye Duncan wrote on the NomuPay website. “Our valuation has reached $200 million, and with this latest funding round, our total funding now stands at $90 million. We’re proud to support over 1,600 merchants — including Ikea — and look forward to expanding into markets like Indonesia, Japan, and Vietnam, while continuing our M&A efforts.”

Founded in 2021, NomuPay offers state-of-the-art, unified payment solutions to help businesses scale in high-growth regions in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The company’s uP Platform offers high-penetration alternative payment methods; real-time payout disbursements; and compliant, end-to-end marketplace funds management.

This week’s investment will help NomuPay assist international acquirers, merchants, Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) as they seek to expand in markets such as those in Asia, where differences between local regulations and a broad variety of payment methods add to both cost and complexity.

To this point, NomuPay CEO Peter Burridge noted that many organizations are stymied by the offerings of the dominant international gateway acquirers that, in some instances, provide limited access or fewer payment options. Burridge called for a more “sophisticated and less prescriptive approach.”

Experian acquires debt consolidation technology from Paylink

To help millions of consumers better manage their debts, international data and technology company Experian announced this week that it will acquire ReFi, the debt consolidation innovation from Paylink Solutions. ReFi, which specifically helps manage the “double counting” challenge in lending, will become a part of the Experian Consumer Services Marketplace.

“Our research shows that millions of consumers are stuck in a revolving debt trap, due to the systemic issue of ‘double counting’ when consumers apply for debt consolidation products,” Experian Consumer Services Managing Director Edu Castro explained. “ReFi’s innovative solutions will play a crucial role in addressing the debt challenges faced by many consumers, unlocking access to debt consolidation products that could help them save money on their debt and even pay it off sooner.”

Double counting can occur when an individual applies for a debt consolidation loan and a lender counts both the individual’s original debts and their new consolidation loan as part of the affordability assessment. Lenders “double count” because there is no guarantee that the funds from the new consolidation loan will be deployed to retire existing debt. This means that otherwise creditworthy individuals can be denied consolidation loans to help them more affordably pay off their debts.

ReFi provides this assurance for lenders, working with both parties to settle debts directly with existing creditors. This enables applicants for consolidation loans to be assessed solely on the basis of the consolidation loan amount. And as debt is paid off, old accounts are closed, providing convenience for customers and further bolstering confidence for lenders.

“The team who built ReFi feel tremendously privileged to already have helped thousands of people reduce their monthly outgoings and cut the amount of interest they have to pay overall,” Paylink CEO Jake Ranson said. “Becoming part of Experian will enable us to further innovate, accelerate, and grow the impact ReFi will have on delivering better outcomes for lender and borrower alike.”

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Grantham, Lincolnshire, U.K., Paylink Solutions launched its ReFi solution in the fall of 2023. Piloted by financial wellness company Salary Finance, ReFi has saved Salary Finance customers more than £10 million in interest payments.

With its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, Experian helps businesses around the world enhance lending practices, fight fraud, and better engage their customers. A Finovate alum since 2011, Experian is a FTSE 100 Index company, publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EXPN.

Data privacy firm Dataships raises $7 million in Series A funding

Data privacy software company Dataships secured $7 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Osage Venture Partners, and featured participation from Lavrock Ventures and the Urban Innovation Fund. In a statement, the company said that the funding will help “accelerate our mission to help merchants dramatically grow their marketing lists while maintaining ironclad data privacy compliance.”

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Dublin, Dataships began as a compliance technology company and has since transitioned to compliance management. The company notes that it has helped its merchant customers realize a 10x increase in SMS opt-in rates, a 3x to 4x boost in email marketing contacts, and $112 million in additional revenue generated via 1.1 million repeat purchases. Dataships recently announced a pair of new innovations to its platform: SMS Easy Opt-in, which replaces “Reply Y” with in-checkout verification, and A/B Testing Engine that provides transparent measurement of baseline versus opt-in rates.

“We’re building Dataships to be the essential growth platform for modern e-commerce brands,” the company’s Matt Gottron noted in a blog post. “One that transforms compliance from a burden into a competitive advantage, helping merchants build larger, more engaged marketing lists that drive sustainable revenue growth.”

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin American payments service processor Kuady introduced its new physical prepaid Mastercard for users in Peru after launching a virtual version in September.

Onchain finance solutions provider Tokeny has teamed up with El Salvador-based Digital Asset Service Provider Ditobanx.

Latin American cross-border payments platform dLocal secured an authorized payment institution license from the U.K.’s FCA.

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

TechCrunch profiled “Africa’s newest fintech unicorns.”

Visa launched its 2025 Accelerator Program for African fintechs.

BusinessDay Nigeria examined the impact of cybercrime on Africa’s fintech and digital banking industries.

Central and Eastern Europe

Germany-based fintech unicorn N26 announced its first profitable quarter to close out 2024.

Lithuania and Romania earned praise for their growth potential in sustainable banking in a recent report from the International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC).

Financial Times featured German fintech Trade Republic as the firm announces it has no intention to go public at this time.