Checkout.com to acquire identity verification provider Ubble

Checkout.com has announced plans to acquire French identity verification provider Ubble, in a deal expected to close before the end of 2022.

Since launching in 2012, the London-headquartered cloud payments platform has grown to house 1,700 staff members in 19 offices around the world, striking deals with the likes of Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Alipay, while also expanding to cover bank transfers, SEPA direct debits, as well as cash payments.

Ubble’s services will allow Checkout.com to reduce the financial risk associated with e-commerce transactions amid the rising threat of online scams and identity fraud.

Its identity verification technology will make it easier to ensure merchants and fintechs are compliant with local regulations as well as confirm whether customers are who they claim to be.

It will also expand Checkout.com’s current suite of financial products, allowing it to stay ahead of potential changes in EU and global regulations.

Checkout.com chief product officer Meron Colbeci said that personal identity security is “becoming a growing need for e-commerce and crypto merchants, digital wallets, and other fintechs”.

One notable Checkout.com customer is fintech firm Wise, which last year debuted on the London Stock Exchange as the “largest-ever tech listing”. Other fintech clients include Klarna, Revolut, and MoneyGram.

According to Colbeci, expanding Checkout.com’s security and fraud detection capabilities will allow the company to “reduce the time, cost and friction” experienced by e-commerce merchants when deploying existing identity verification solutions.

This will allow them to “offer their end consumers a simple and compelling experience, which lends itself to increased conversion rates and faster growth”, he said, adding that Checkout.com was impressed with Ubble’s ability to "rapidly drive machine-learning innovation in a complex and challenging space, and their market-leading engineering talent”.

The deal is likely to help Ubble expand to the US market; a new area of focus for Checkout.com, which originally launched as an EMEA-based company.

The announcement of the planned acquisition comes four months after Checkout.com raised $1 billion in a Series D funding round, raising its valuation to $40 billion (£32.8bn).

Neither companies disclosed any financial details relating to the acquisition.