Highnote announced the launch of its acquiring solution, which, combined with the firm’s existing issuing solution, will create a unified card payments platform for organizations.
While more aspects of payments processing have been embedded into software solutions, many businesses still rely on multiple providers to meet all their payments needs. Highnote’s platform, however, is designed to support full pay-in and payout functionality.
“It’s an all-in-one unified platform with a centralized general ledger at the core,” John MacIlwaine, CEO of Highnote, told PaymentsJournal. “It’s not a bolt on, we’re not pivoting the business. We’re strong believers in core issuing, but most of our customers are also excited about being able to acquire the cards that they’ve issued and even general acquiring as well.”
In the Cards
For four years, Highnote has built its operations around a platform that helps businesses issue an array of card options—from customizable debit cards to credit cards to loyalty cards. However, the inclusion of acquiring has always been part of the plan.
“My background has been in acquiring,” said MacIlwaine. “I came from Braintree, which is PayPal’s acquiring business. When we started Highnote, we were looking at both issuing and acquiring, but we needed to pick one to start with because otherwise you get spread too thin. We felt like the bigger near-term opportunity was in issuing and embedded finance, but we wanted to architect the platform knowing that we’re going to incorporate acquiring.”
Highnote’s API-based acquiring platform enables companies to accept card payments online via plug-in checkout software or custom features they design. It’s directly integrated with major payment networks, improving data access and transparency while lowering costs for customers.
Securing Funding
Highnote also raised $90 million in Series B funding, bringing its valuation to more than $750 million. With the new funding, Highnote plans to invest more heavily in its platform to deliver tailored embedded finance solutions for its clients.
According to MacIlwaine, the company aims to create a secure and scalable platform using APIs that gives its clients comprehensive access to their data—down to the ISO message level. This allows their clients to create custom fraud rules, conduct velocity checks, and share information with their consumers in the way that best suits their needs.
“What’s the differentiator?” MacIlwaine said. “We have a product platform that essentially allows customers to innovate. We thought, how can we create this platform that allows for innovation to occur by our customers because they know their markets better than we do? They know how to compete; they know how to drive revenue.”
“The analogy is, if you look at an Apple iPhone, you don’t go to Apple to build all the apps,” he said. “Their engineers are not building the apps, they built a platform that has the APIs and it’s secure, but all the innovation is done by customers. That is something that hasn’t really existed in payments.”
