We’re about to close off 2023 and what an important year it’s been for Kriya! This time last year I was reflecting on our recently launched PayLater products and rebrand. Since then it’s been full steam ahead, and I now look back on a foundational year of product development, business transformation and commercial wins. I wanted to share a few of my personal highlights with you and reflect on the year to come.

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We delivered incredible growth

Let’s start with the numbers. In 2023 we passed the huge milestone of processing £27 billion in B2B payments since our inception. 

Our new API integration technology saw payment volume surge 17x due to the fantastic adoption of our latest PayLater tools. Thousands of new B2B buyers were onboarded by our integrated merchants, over 50% of whom returned each month to make repeat transactions powered by our products. 

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We led the charge in shaking up enterprise B2B commerce

The widespread adoption of embedded finance truly began this year. It’s evident from the profile of businesses we’ve been working with. 

Where 2022 was all about early adopters and digitally native B2B Marketplaces, in 2023 we saw a shift in interest from far more established retailers and enterprises. 

Our recent win with Halfords is case in point. I’ve been saying for a while now that embedded finance is set to revolutionise B2B sales. Buyers expect access to flexible payment terms, for payments to be frictionless and multichannel - and here we are. A FTSE listed company like Halfords investing in our technology is no greater endorsement.

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We made our products Multichannel

There’s no disputing the boom in eCommerce, but it’s certainly not going to totally replace the traditional ways businesses have bought from each other any time soon. 

With 83 percent of B2B transactions still being made offline, we launched our Kriya Merchant Portal to open up PayLater to offline sales. This is an enormous opportunity for B2B retailers!

With our tools, big companies can embed payments into the last mile of their offline orders. Paylinks and QR codes can be shared in WhatsApps or emails, effectively turning any messaging tool into a digital checkout. Trade cards, once limited to retail store credit, are becoming apps, offering a unified spending limit across online and offline purchases.

And make no mistake, the impact of not doing this is tangible. Companies that commit to multichannel sales are 79 percent more likely to be market share winners. Those that don’t are leaving money on the table for their competitors.

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We celebrated 5 years of partnership with Barclays

Partnerships are instrumental to our growth, and Barclays have made an outsize contribution to this over the past 5 years of working together. I’m incredibly proud to share that since 2018 we’ve funded over 500 merchants banked by Barclays and advanced nearly half a billion in funds.

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Our B2B products continued to evolve

Our product team continued to innovate and develop the capabilities on offer with PayLater. We added multiple ways to integrate Kriya, ranging from our Hosted Payments Flow to plugins for many industry leading eCommerce platforms.

In addition we brought the capability to provide instant credit decisions for buyers in 45 countries globally and a single embedded tool to perform buyer credit and anti-fraud authentication checks.

You can read more in our end of year edition of Kriya Product Pulse. I’m proud of what the team has accomplished!

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It feels like we’re just getting started

2023 was a year of significant progress despite the harder macro backdrop for Fintech and wider economy. Our products evolved at pace, we learned invaluable lessons and really grew into our new identity as Kriya.

While there are many new voices talking about B2B BNPL and digital payments, we’re unique in having over a decade of experience in financing B2B transactions within the UK and internationally. 

And this experience really counts. Having advanced over £3.5 billion in credit over the years, our risk, operations and financial processes are robust and resilient enough for the biggest of businesses to rely on. We know what it takes to give business buyers the confidence to select PayLater with Kriya, and this sets us up incredibly well for the year to come!

The embedded finance revolution is truly here and we’ve got some exciting product releases plus other big news to share with you in early 2024!

Thank you to everyone that’s been part of this momentous year, from our merchants and partners, to my incredibly hard working team. 

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Wishing you a joyful and relaxing end to 2023 from everyone at Kriya!