This brief piece highlights yet another startup that is focusing on the cross birder payments space, targeting the SMB segments. The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2014, and has VC funding from a number of investors, including Goldman Sachs, NAB and SVB. This release through Payments Source points out a unique approach to generating greater distribution, borrowed from the credit and business card playbook, which is to provide rewards to users for generating payments. It seems that includes sellers as well, since Veem has some version of an e-invoice generation platform as well.
‘Users may earn $1 for every $2,000 send from U.S. dollars to a recipient in foreign currency and $2 for each new-customer invitation sent. Users also may earn $20 for invoicing a new customer through Veem and $50 for each referral that joins Veem.’
Although we have not had a direct briefing on the scheme, the article points out that some sort of intelligent routing takes place that guides payments through the most beneficial scheme. Secondary sources indicate that one of those schemes includes blockchain and bitcoin FX, which can obviously have some interesting spreads, although real-time spots would minimize that to an extent.
‘Veem’s browser-based service enables users to send funds to recipients using only their email address; Veem’s platform automatically finds the most efficient route using a combination of traditional bank payment rails, blockchain and partnerships, earning revenue on currency conversions.’
The article does not delve into other products, but a website review reveals that Veem does get involved in invoice financing as well through a factoring solution that they call Early Invoice Payment. Mercator has covered factoring over time, most recently in a report titled Supply Chain Finance Market Review, released July 2018.
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
