Payments as a service provider, Answer Pay, has reportedly made key appointments to bolster its plans “to support the growth of Request to Pay across Europe.”
Following on from the recent award of grant funding from the UK government’s Department for International Trade and its recent integration with EBA Clearing, Answer Pay “is pleased to announce that Ralf Ohlhausen will be joining as Executive Adviser.”
Ralf is “a luminary of the European payments landscape chairing the European Third Party Providers Association (ETPPA) and co-chairing the Berlin Group’s Open Finance Advisory Board.”
He also holds executive advisor positions “at Fintech Unicorns PPRO and Tink, is a member of the ECB’s Market Infrastructure Board, alternate member of the ERPB and EPC board and represents the interests of Fintechs in various multi-stakeholder groups.”
His decision “to advise Answer Pay is a validation of the company’s journey so far.”
More broadly, Request to Pay has “seen increased growth momentum of late in the UK and Europe.”
Ralf stated:
“Open Banking is transitioning to Open Finance where Request to Pay is an important success story, creating new ways to pay and get paid. Banks and payment providers previously mandated to open their APIs have a huge opportunity to leverage Request to Pay’s data to create improved customer journeys.”
In addition to the appointment of Ralf Ohlhausen, Answer Pay has also “announced new seed funding from Sacha Dragic’s family office Hellen’s Rock.”
Sacha is “a serial entrepreneur whose previous successes include securing a €175 million investment from the Blackstone Group into his company Superbet to accelerate its global business expansion.”
Andrea Cordas, Partner at Hellen’s Rock, remarked:
“I’m always excited by companies that are having a real impact in improving people’s lives and it’s clear from the Answer Pay customer base that its RtP solution will help the financially excluded and disadvantaged. I see big potential for this across Europe.”
Given the strong Request to Pay growth opportunity in Europe, Answer Pay continues “to expand and build towards its Series A funding round.”
Chairman of Answer Pay Mike Chambers adds:
“We’re delighted to welcome both Ralf and Hellen’s Rock, their addition bolsters an already strong management team and bodes well for the future.”
As noted in a blog post, the Fintech firm’s certified “Payments as a Service” platform “connects banks to Request to Pay, the new messaging standard for experience-rich payments.”
Complementing existing payment infrastructure, it gives payees the ability “to request a payment and send an invoice using their corporate bank interface.”
Payers can then “aggregate and control when and how each request is paid using their retail bank app.”
Placing financial institutions at the center of the bill payment experience “ensures end to end bank-grade security.”
However, it isn’t always easy for banks “to bring differentiated services to market.”
The firm’s API based access “removes the technology challenges so banks can maximise their revenue opportunity.”
