Integrating with a payment API is something that most, if not all, business-to-consumer platforms will have to do at some point. It is practically unavoidable if they wish to receive credit card payments. The problem is that for platforms that handle invoices, not just one-time fees, few payment APIs have all the features needed to accommodate their workflow.
That’s why he founded Ralph Rogge Kryzko.
“Having worked with thousands of small businesses, this is the case “It’s clear that paying bills is still an inconvenience, especially when compared to the seamless processing of consumer card payments,” Rogge said. (Previously, Rogge worked at YouLend, a startup that offers a range of financing solutions targeting merchants and SME owners.) Kryzco makes these payments easy.”
So, does Crezco actually facilitate payments? From the sounds of it, yes.
Crezco creates workflows for collecting invoice payments – specifically account-to-account invoice collection workflows. Through these services, payments, including external payments, are made directly from one account to another without the need for transaction intermediaries such as card networks.
With Crezco, businesses get automated invoice reconciliation integrated with their existing accounting software and tools that allows them to create payment links, collect recurring payments, and split payments between multiple accounts. Crezco also offers a built-in fraud detection system, as well as “instant” payment notifications via web and mobile.
“It’s not about replacing card payment with something cheaper, but replacing manual bank transfers with something more convenient,” Rogge said. “Account-to-account and real-time payments are the future. They will be increasingly adopted country by country. Crezco’s mission is to connect these international payment paths with a single API for our partners and their customers; the ultimate goal is to make it easier for businesses to send and receive payments, locally.” And internationally, saving time and money.
Kryzko does not exist in a vacuum. Its biggest competitors include Intuit and Wise, as well as Brite Payments, TrueLayer, Plaid, Melio, and Tink (which Visa recently acquired for $2 billion).
Rugg sees Crezco’s fraud prevention technology as a differentiator, among other capabilities.
“Besides using account-to-account to process payments, Crezco is leveraging open banking to enhance its fraud systems by analyzing historical bank transactions,” Rogge said. “Most tools use the same few data points, which are checked against public datasets, such as government sanctions lists. Open banking provides 10 years of each historical credit and debit transaction.
Crezco claims to have more than 10,000 active customers – and hopes to significantly increase that number by partnering with Xero, the British accounting technology company. Crezco will replace Wise, with whom Xero previously had a deal for embedded bill payment solutions.
Investors seem happy with Kryzko’s path. MMC Ventures and 13books have invested $12 million in its Series A round, bringing Crezco’s total raised to $18 million, the company announced today. Rogge says the proceeds will go toward expanding Crezco’s product from accounts to accounts and expanding the size of its team from 25 to 45.
“The structural tailwinds in B2B payments are significant, including the forced adoption of electronic invoicing, the growing use of accounting software and B2B platforms globally, and the growing adoption of B2B payments,” Rogge said. Account payments and open banking, and the continued growth of cross-border payments.