Fintech
Railsbank becomes Railsr as it sets its sights on owning the financial layer of the Internet
World-leading embedded finance experiences platform, Railsbank, has changed its name to Railsr, and launched a rewards offering, signifying that it is ready to create and deliver the next evolution in the consumer financial experience.
Embedded Finance Experiences
Railsr is the first global turnkey platform that goes beyond fintech to enable any brand or company, for example, sports, retail, travel and ecommerce, to use embedded finance experiences as a strategic tool for customer relationships, revenue, rewards and relevance.
The Railsr platform has all the technology, product capabilities, operations and regulatory licences to empower brands to create and embed financial experiences, swiftly and seamlessly, and at the appropriate time, in their existing customer journey, wherever it is most impactful.
Railsr now has more than 250 business-to-business (B2B) customers and 5.5 million accounts, with current customers including the likes of Foris, Paceline, Plum, Wirex and Wagestream – the very first customer signed in 2018. Strategic Partners now include AWS, Salesforce, Visa, Mastercard and Plaid.
Since its formation in 2016, the company has raised over $100m in equity financing and has the backing of leading investors, including Visa. Additionally, the company is now a global platform servicing global and regional customers, with offices in the UK (HQ), Europe, APAC and the US.
Delivering positive disruption
Now is the right time for the next stage in the Railsr journey as critical market trends converge: accelerating digital transformation, growing consumer demand for experiences and the ongoing evolution beyond Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) to deeper embedded finance experiences, a market estimated to be worth around $800bn of revenue globally.
Over the last six years, Railsr has purposefully built a platform, based on an integrated financial product set, that enables any brand or company to make finance a phenomenal experience within their existing customer journey. In addition to banking, wallets, credit, cards and data, Railsr has now launched a rewards offering, which completes its financial product set – making it the first, single, turnkey vendor stack in the embedded finance experiences market.
Co-founder and CEO Nigel Verdon said: “In our fast-moving world of amazing customer experiences, the finance industry has failed to evolve. We’re ‘experience natives’ thinking differently to deliver positive disruption. As the world’s leading embedded finance experiences platform, running on Railsr helps brands put customers at the heart of their business by leveraging finance as a core engagement tool to deepen relationships, create relevance and generate revenue. We’ve changed our name to Railsr, and we’re making finance a phenomenal experience.”
“The world has reached an inflection point. A time of radical digital transformation. Running on Railsr helps our customers drive relationships, revenue, rewards and relevance with their customers. We’re here for every step of their embedded finance experience journey from prototyping through to launching and, ultimately, scaling globally.”
Customer Quotes
Portman Wills, Founder & CTO, Wagestream: “It’s fair to say that without Railsr, there would be no Wagestream. From day one, Railsr’s innovative Banking as a Service (BaaS) products have helped Wagestream with its mission to enable financial wellbeing for every frontline worker. Running on Railsr means Wagestream can provide affordable, easy-to-use tools to over one million employees, empowering financial health at employers such as Greene King, Halfords, Next, and the NHS. ”
Victor Trokoudes, Founder, Plum, “More than a million people save and invest with Plum. As a company we’ve seen significant growth with Railsr. We have leveraged their innovative platform, for licensing, Banking as a Service (BaaS) and launching our UK & EU cards offerings, enabling our customers to make smart and active financial decisions.”
Market Opportunity and Research
According to industry expert Simon Torrence, the value of the rapidly growing embedded finance economy – embedded insurance, lending and payments – will be valued at $7.2tn of market capitalisation in 2030, twice the current value of today’s top 30 global banks and insurers.
Recently, Railsr partnered with the World Retail Congress to publish a report on the behaviours and buying habits of four distinct consumer segments that have emerged post-lockdown: the digital arrivals, the subscribers, the ethical consumers and the thrill-seekers. The report said that retailers need to be ready to deliver consumer experiences to these key groups. The report also pointed to significant changes in consumer attitudes, evidenced by how 73% of the growth in Google retail searches in the UK came from new, or rarely searched terms.
Research commissioned by Railsr has uncovered growing demand for new and improved financial experiences and better rewards from consumers. It found that 39% of consumers are interested in accessing financial services like credit, loans or investments from brands they love and trust; rising to 51% of 18-24-year-olds. At the same time, 41% would be interested in a credit card that offered early access to tickets, exclusive offers, or other high-value rewards from their favourite high-street brand.
Recent developments
The company has announced several strategic moves to support growth and build expertise in the retail and sports industry, including the appointment of former England rugby captain and current leadership mentor at England rugby union, Will Carling, OBE and former Formula 1 Board Advisor, Jon Hall.