LTVCo-led investor group acquires US payments FinTech Kapp

By Divya Shah

Why it matters: The deal highlights investor interest in payment optimisation technology that helps merchants recover declined transactions, improve conversion rates and strengthen collaboration between issuers and merchants.

Kipp, a US FinTech focused on reducing payment declines at checkout, was acquired by a group of investors led by Lifetime Value Company (LTVCo). 

The company said the acquisition provides substantial long-term financial backing and supports its plans to invest further in technology, expand its issuer and merchant network, and strengthen its presence across the US market. 

Kipp operates a platform that connects online merchants with banks to help reduce transaction declines caused by insufficient funds or exceeded credit limits. 

Kipp describes its platform as a real-time decisioning and collaboration layer between merchants and card issuers. The company claims its technology has delivered transaction recovery, or “save rates”, ranging between 20% and 50%. 

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. 

LTVCo’s portfolio includes businesses such as BeenVerified, Ownerly, and Bumper, which operate across consumer information, real estate data and automotive intelligence markets. 

Following the acquisition, Kipp said it will continue operating independently under the leadership of its co-founders, Chanan Lavi, CEO, and Nir Levy, CTO. 

“Our focus now is expanding our US issuer and merchant network and bringing more transactions onto the platform,” said Chanan Lavi, CEO. 

Alongside the acquisition, the company strengthened its leadership team with several industry veterans joining in advisory and governance roles. Randy Christofferson was appointed as a board member, Adam Coyle joined as a strategic advisor, and Jeff Stiefler was named executive chairman. 

Christofferson previously served as president of First USA and American Express Relationship Services. Coyle brings experience from his role as Chief Strategy Officer at Worldpay, while Stiefler has held leadership positions including President of American Express, Chairman of Vantiv and Lead Independent Director at FIS. 

“Our plan is to build a large network of banks and merchants using the Kipp platform,” said Jeff Stiefler, executive chairman. 

Stiefler added, “We are already in late stages of discussion with entities that have relationships with thousands of banks and merchants who will work with us as distribution partners, so believe we’ll gain market traction quickly.” 

The acquisition is expected to support Kipp’s next growth phase as it seeks to expand adoption of its payments platform and help merchants reduce lost sales resulting from declined card transactions.