We look back on what was a very significant year for us, with great anticipation for the year ahead

As a very busy year drew to a close, we found just enough time to catch our breath and reflect on all that happened last year at Paybase. We can confidently say we are the strongest we’ve ever been, and whilst we enjoyed a few well-earned days off over the Christmas period, we’re also very happy to dive into 2018! Here are some of our standout moments of 2017.

It was a great year for validation, as the work we are doing was recognised in a number of different ways. We were awarded almost £700k in a government-backed grant from Innovate UK to continue what we are doing to change the world of payments. Whilst we are already comfortably funded by private investors, we appreciate being recognised as a leading innovator by one of the UK’s largest funds for innovation. Innovate UK was set up in 2007 to help businesses realise the potential of new technologies and has since added an estimated £16bn to the UK economy through investing in successful companies - it’s great to have their endorsement.

Furthermore, Real Business named Paybase as one of the 50 most disruptive UK companies and Wired described us as a fintech set to revolutionise finance, with our CEO Anna being asked to speak at Wired Money 2017. Anna was also shortlisted for the Payexpo 2017 Payments Power 10.

But whilst we’re proud of these accolades, it is what we achieved last year that is most important. In building V2 of the Paybase Platform, we have treaded new ground in the payments industry.

There has always been a problem with legacy technology and legacy thinking hindering payments innovation. As a result, businesses have had to rely on outdated and inflexible payments systems prohibiting them from building the best possible and most user friendly products. This has become even more apparent with the rise of platforms and marketplaces that need more sophisticated payments infrastructure in order to facilitate payments between various parties, e.g., between sellers and buyers or freelancers and their clients.

We have made it our mission to address this issue and to bring much needed flexibility to the world of payments by taking an entirely fresh and tech-first approach. This has meant spending many hours at the drawing board and bringing together most of our teams/departments in order to make sure that we all speak the same language, learn from one another and, critically, solve the problem of today’s payments world by uniting our expertise in the Paybase Platform. Our compliance, operations and business development teams have become tech experts, and vice versa. Whilst this has not always been an easy process, we believe that this is the only way to create payment infrastructure that can enhance products rather than hold them back.

Our process also involved speaking to partners and incorporating their feedback directly into the Platform. Through this we gained real insight into what companies with complex payment requirements need and built a solution that meets those needs and goes further still. This has garnered strong market validation, with several partners lined up for our launch this year. Finally, we have made fantastic progress with our suppliers, ensuring we have the best possible banking relationships, etc. to suit our partners’ business models.

None of this would have been possible without some fantastic new additions, and last year we made a whopping 9 new hires across various departments. Of these 9, we’ve welcomed 4 department heads. Russ West, a finance expert with over a decade of experience and a passion for payments and partnerships; Danielle Herndon, bringing years of experience working as a certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist for global payments firms; tech thought leader and Node.JS specialist Joe Harlow; and finally Jarina Dahlgren, joining us with versatile industry knowledge to perfect Paybase’s processes. Our remaining hires have joined the tech team, bringing various important skill sets and specialties with them.

We have gained true subject-matter expertise across the board and built on a very integrated and passionate team. All our staff have been instrumental in Paybase’s development and we look forward to growing our team further in 2018!

All these new employees required more space! Back in May we moved to a higher capacity office in London Bridge. We now feel fully at home on Tanner St and have even hosted a meetup here - look out for more of them in 2018.

Finally, last year saw us experiment with an exciting new way of working. Over 2 days in June we had our own Hackathon, Hackbase 2017. The event focused on building new products that can help our business and holding workshops to encourage staff of all departments to work together and think differently. It was a great success, as products of genuine value were made, employees developed a greater understanding of other departments and it gave the team a brilliant chance to bond.

In short, 2017 was good, but with all the developments we’ve made, we’re confident 2018 will be even better. We can’t wait to launch the Paybase Platform and make a positive change in the world of payments. If you have any questions on what Paybase can do for your business in 2018, please get in touch!

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