JPMorgan to Buy Payment Firm WePay in Rare FinTech Acquisition

(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to acquire the startup WePay to help its 4 million small-business customers accept payments faster.

The deal will let the bank’s customers integrate payments into the software they use, New York-based JPMorgan said Monday in an emailed statement, without disclosing terms. WePay, founded in 2008, already works with software platforms like GoFundMe and FreshBooks, JPMorgan said.

JPMorgan has already formed partnerships with financial-technology startups Bill.com and On Deck Capital Inc. for its small business unit. While JPMorgan and WePay considered partnering, ultimately they decided the payments firm would be more successful under the bank, Matt Kane, chief executive officer of the bank’s merchant services division, said in a telephone interview.

“This is the first acquisition we’ve brought of this kind,” Kane said. “Small business across JPMorgan is an enormous strategic focus for us. We know it’s the lifeblood of the economy as well as one of the biggest growth sectors that we have.”

Bill Clerico, founder and CEO of WePay, said he’s also been asked to help turn JPMorgan into a top-tier technology employer in the San Francisco Bay Area, where his team will continue to operate as JPMorgan’s payments innovation incubator.

--With assistance from Hugh Son

To contact the reporter on this story: Jenny Surane in New York at jsurane4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Dan Reichl, David Scheer