JPMorgan to buy fintech startup WePay

Investment bank JPMorgan has agreed to buy online payments startup WePay in its first major fintech acquisition.

With WePay’s technology being popular among SMEs, JPMorgan said it plans to provide its own network of four million small business clients with the startup’s technology.

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“With WePay, Chase is taking the work out of payments for both our business clients and the software providers who serve them,” said Matt Kane, CEO of Chase Merchant Services. "We are powering payments for growth, so businesses can accept payments instantly, get paid faster, and never lose a sale.”

Existing platforms that use WePay’s technology include FreshBooks, Constant Contact and GoFundMe. However, the firm will now look to use the Chase brand as base for expansion and further growth.

“Being part of the Chase family - with its global capabilities, brand and scale - will help us better support our growing list of platform partners and the businesses they serve,” said Bill Clerico, founder and CEO of WePay. “We’re excited to marry the distribution of one of the world’s largest and most respected financial institutions with the best technology and talent in Silicon Valley.”

Although the terms of the deal with undisclosed, Wall Street Journal reported that the price was above the $220mn valuation that WePay gained during its 2015 funding round.

The deal comes at a time when JPMorgan is delving increasingly into the sphere of fintech, having invested $100mn into Bill.com, another online payment provider, last month, as well as having developed its own blockchain-based payment network.