Primer rolls out Primer Connect; used by Klarna, GoCardless, Worldline

By Megha Bhattacharya

UK-based FinTech Primer has announced the launch of Primer Connect, an open app framework that allows third-party payments services to build integrations on the company’s APIs. The FinTech’s framework has seen the participation of companies like Klarna, Mollie, Worldline, Truelayer, GoCardless, Sift, Laybuy, Bridge, Banked, Fonoa, etc. Primer Connect is currently in closed beta and is expected to be widely available to developers in Q2 2021.

“By deploying GoCardless via Primer, merchants can tap into our global direct debit network, harnessing the power of bank-to-bank payments which increase conversion, cash flow and speed-to-market, while decreasing customer churn and cost. As we continue to combine our network with open banking technology, Primer’s seamless integration ensures businesses will always have access to the best and latest payment solutions, without any technical build,” said Rachel Astall, Head of Global Partnerships, GoCardless.

Paul Anthony, Co-founder and Head of Product and Engineering at Primer, said, “With Primer Connect, we enable payments-related services to significantly reduce go-live timeframes, increase distribution and ensure customers maintain up-to-date, best-in-class technical integrations. Primer is an uncompromising, fully agnostic payments integration. By opening up our framework, we ensure merchants can gain access to best-in-class products and services across their payments services stack at all times.”

Primer enables e-commerce merchants and online payments facilitators to connect and maintain their entire payments ecosystem through a unified payments API and checkout. These connections can include payment service providers (PSPs), payment methods, fraud providers, chargeback services, subscription billing engines, BI tools, loyalty and rewards platforms. The company was founded by ex-PayPal employees Paul Anthony and Gabriel Le Roux.

Recently, Primer announced that it has secured £14 million in a Series A funding round led by Accel. The round also saw the participation of existing investors such as Balderton, SpeedInvest, Seedcamp and RTP Global. The FinTech will use the funding to accelerate business development efforts and scale its remote-first product and engineering organisation.