Fresh details revealed about Funding Circle founder's new "super app" payments venture

Fresh details have been revealed about the highly-anticipated payment startup set up by the co-founder of Funding Circle Samir Desai, which the former Funding Circle CEO is billing as the latest “super app”.

In April this year, it was revealed that Desai, the brains behind one of Britain’s financial technology pioneers, had raised tens of millions of pounds from high-profile investors to set up a payments startup that hopes to disrupt card giants Visa and MasterCard along with the likes of PayPal and Klarna in the payments space.

Called Super Payments it had raised £22.5m with backing- “one of the largest ever pre-seeing funding roads in Europe"-from VCs including Accel, an investor in Funding Circle and Local Globe, an early Facebook investor, along with Union Ventures.

A Super Payments website and app are now live, which indicates that Super Payments is looking not only to take on payments giants Visa and MasterCard but also advertising giants Facebook and Google.

In the website blurb, Desai said: “Businesses and shoppers have been stung by huge fees on the internet for too long, in many cases without even knowing. 

“We believe that the simple super app can save shoppers and businesses billions a year. At a time of high inflation and increases in the cost of living, redistributing the huge profits of payment and digital advertising companies back to users will significantly improve people's lives.”

It adds: "Super power free payments forever for businesses and more rewarding shopping for our members, so everyone wins.”

According to the website, Super Payments has two target markets: shoppers and businesses.

For businesses, it is looking to undercut the card giants by “making payments free of charge” for those who use Super Payments.

The website says: “Unlike other existing payments solution providers, who typically charge between one to five per cent for every transaction they process, at Super our payment solution is completely free to use”.

The website reveals it is also looking to take on the likes of Google and Facebook, by saying it is offering users "a fairer way to acquire customers and increase sales”.

Businesses carrying out a campaign on Super Payments hoping to acquire customers will decide how much commission they pay back to Super Payments, the website says.

It adds: “We know acquiring customers online is hard and expensive, typically costing 15-30 per cent through platforms like Google and Facebook. Super offers a fairer way to acquire customers and increase sales.”

For shoppers, Super Payments says it is offering them cash back when they shop through Super Payments.

Brands listed on the website include easyJet, Converse, Currys, Iceland and Boohoo.

“Super powered cashback,” the website says. “Start supering and earn faster cashback from your favourite brands, big and small.”

It is unclear what charges, if any, there are for those who sign up to Super Payments.

The Super Payments website also reveals that the startup is recruiting for six staff members:  senior analytics engineer, senior data analyst, senior software engineer, senior software engineer (hybrid working), senior UX/ product designer and UI/ visual designer all based in its London office.

Desai launched Funding Circle in 2010 and stood down as the company’s CEO at the end of 2021.