GoCardless raises $95m at near-unicorn valuation from Bain Capital

Recurring payment provider GoCardless has raised a whopping $95m Series F funding round, the fintech announced today.

GoCardless, whose last $75m funding round was in February 2019, secured this new cash today at a near-unicorn valuation of $970m in a round led by Bain Capital Ventures.

And, while its last funding round was very much focused on international expansion, this funding is firmly aimed at pushing into Open Banking payments for GoCardless.

“We believe that open banking is set to disrupt the payment landscape by introducing new, simpler and more secure ways of making bank-to-bank payments that will compete with the traditional card networks,” said Hiroki Takeuchi, CEO and co-founder of GoCardless.

“Our investment in open banking innovation will create a uniquely valuable payment offering—continuing to provide our customers with the best way to collect recurring payments.”

The announcement that GoCardless will be pushing into the Open Banking payments space will be a shot across the bow for the likes of Plaid,Bud,TrueLayer,Tink and others who’ve been jostling in an already competitive market.

GoCardless says that its Open Banking payments will be part of a dual offering to “provide visibility and speed, while bank debit maximises cash flow and minimises churn by pulling funds automatically from payers - all at a lower cost than cards.”

The payments provider is also planning to expand into the eCommerce market with an Open Banking offering for merchants who deal with repeating payments from customers.

Today GoCardless processing more than $18bn worth of payments annually now across the 30 countries it operates in.