Our mission continues at Checkout.com, announcing our Series D

2022 kicks off to an incredible start as we announce our series D funding round, raising  $1 billion at a $40 billion valuation further driving our mission to enable businesses and their communities to thrive in the digital economy. 

Having spent my entire career in payments, this mission sits close to my heart. At just 18, my first role was just ahead of the digital transformation, scanning paper payment instructions and correcting IBANs, SWIFT codes and issuing paper drafts for visas via an archaic legacy system. I spent many hours over the years speaking to individuals and big corporations about their needs for sending funds overseas and in the early days, before we went online this wasn't easily accessible to the everyday person outside their banks. 

Much has changed, since the financial crisis the digital economy has evolved. We have evolved. The world's innovation and growth is elevating access and enabling. Many industries are on a steep digital curve as we see the shared economy touching our everyday lives. 

In 2015, Sir David Clementi spoke at a SWIFT conference and said that ‘great businesses will harness technology alongside a passionate desire to simplify the experience for customers.’ The speakers later discussed the digital curve and how our payments system needs to accelerate the path to instant payments. 

Access to funds instantly, in an economy that is shared digitally, is no longer optional - it's an expectation. Consumers deserve access to their funds imminently and not have to carry the burden of legacy infrastructures. 

I like to put this into perspective and put a face to why we do what we do for our merchants and their customers; 

• The hard-working person sharing their income with family overseas 
• The person that shares their property - home, bike, car - to fund their startup dreams 
• The 2am rideshare driver that you got you home safely 
• The insurance claimant whose dream ski holiday turned into a broken leg 
• The delivery driver and restaurant who helped us cope during the lockdown

There are real people behind what we do and they deserve access to a digital platform that can provide access to their funds instantly. 

The curve continues and is accelerated even more so now since the pandemic. I have been fortunate to witness companies thrive due to digital transformation. Fintechs have the ability to fail fast and recover fast without having a systemic impact on the economy and hence the risk takers of yesterday are now the foundation of today. This innovative thinking and drive to take on the legacy that is often inaccessible to most is expanding who Fintechs can reach geographically. 

With this scale comes challenges such as operational efficiencies and geographic nuances. Selecting the right partners that share the same global vision, provide the niche product expertise and astute technical infrastructures is imperative to longevity. At Checkout.com, we work closely with our merchants to enable their payment strategy so that they can focus on providing the best products and experience they can to their customers. 

I am passionate about payments, what that means to people and creating a culture where we put your community at the heart of what we do. At Checkout.com, I have the privilege to work alongside like minded people and am immensely proud of the FX & Payouts Product Group we have built. An exceptional team of people delivering our vision to enable seamless global payments through our Payout products.