US-based Cross River Bank, which provides banking services for technology firms, has acquired Seed, an online bank account for freelancers and business owners, for an undisclosed price.
Image: US neobank Seed acquired by Cross River Bank. Photo: courtesy of rawpixel/Pixabay.
Seed offers banking account and Visa Business Debit Card to its customers along with in-built tools for easily managing business’s finances. According to the neobank, its platform offers accounting, expense tracking, and other features at fingertips, thereby helping its customers spend less time in managing their money and more time in running their business.
On the other hand, Cross River Bank combines a suite of products into a banking-as-a-platform solution that covers lending, payments, and risk management. The bank expects the online small business banking technology platform of Seed to consolidate on its suite of banking-as-a-service (BaaS) solutions.
Under the transaction, the commercial bank will also acquire members of Seed’s current team with plans to open more offices on the West Coast in San Francisco and Portland.
Seed co-founder and CEO Brian Merritt said: “We extend a huge thank you to Gilles and the Cross River Board for believing in us.
“We are excited to be a part of this dynamic team as we help Cross River continue to build on its lead as the best bank and technology partner in the country.”
Through the acquisition of the Seed platform, the bank will grow its BaaS offerings, offering additional services for current and also prospective clients. The transaction also gives it scope to grow and expand its current technology, and to boost its small business banking solutions.
Cross River Bank plans to develop an integrated product and will start offering it in the near future.
Cross River Bank founder, CEO and chairman Gilles Gade said: “This acquisition marks a significant milestone for Cross River that comes on the heels of our recent capital raise.
“It allows us to further strengthen our position as a leading provider of fintech solutions as we continue building and enhancing a complete banking platform where companies can leverage best-in-class banking technologies with compliance excellence.”
Earlier this year, Cross River Bank entered into a partnership with Railsbank Technology to enable global market access for fintech companies by offering cross-border banking and payment solutions.
In December 2018, Cross River Bank secured an investment of around $100m (£78.39m) in a funding round led by KKR.