SumUp wins an SCFI credit licence from Brazil's central bank as lending nears a third of revenue

SumUp has obtained an SCFI licence from the Central Bank of Brazil, letting it lend beyond its own balance sheet resources, diversify funding and offer a broader range of financing products. The company has raised USD 157m through receivables investment funds recently and USD 444m through such structures since May 2021, and has extended USD 18.5m in loans to clients. Credit and banking services now account for roughly 30 percent of SumUp's revenues.

The number that matters here is not the licence, it is the 30 percent: the SME acquirer that Europe knows as a card reader company now earns close to a third of its revenue from credit and banking. That is the same shift Square, Adyen and Teya are making, and it changes what a merchant is being sold and how an acquirer is valued. Brazil is where SumUp is building the funding machinery first, and the structure is portable.

Whether SumUp seeks equivalent lending permissions in European markets, how the credit book performs, and whether the 30 percent share keeps rising in the next set of accounts.

• thepaypers.com