Paymentus Holdings, a cloud-based bill payment technology solutions provider, has agreed to acquire Payveris for $152.2m to speed up its initiatives to serve financial institutions and expand the reach of its Instant Payment Network.

Payveris is a provider of cloud-based software that allows more than 265 banks and credit unions to simplify bill pay, person-to-person (P2P) and account-to-account (A2A) money movement besides preventing fraud through a single platform.

The boards of directors of the two firms have given approval to the deal, which is expected to complete in Q3 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

The deal amount will be paid in approximately 56% in cash and 44% in Paymentus Class A common stock.

This merger is expected to bolster the market opportunity for Paymentus’ current solutions while also boosting Payveris’ MoveMoney platform with real-time capabilities, improved electronic bill presentment and further payment options for banks, credit unions and financial institutions.

Paymentus president and CEO Dushyant Sharma said: “We started our relationship with Payveris as a multi-faceted partnership and it quickly became apparent that their technology and team are best-in-class and would be incredibly additive to our platform and mission.

“This acquisition not only accelerates our ability to disrupt the legacy bill pay paradigm, but also helps us deliver greater value to our billers, strategic partners and financial institutions. We are looking forward to having the Payveris team join Paymentus’ fast-growing team.”

Following the completion of the acquisition, Paymentus will offer bank and credit union clients of Payveris with access to the Instant Payment Network.

Paymentus will also provide its omni-channel bill presentment and payment platform to Payveris clients who service loans to help them modernise their loan payment operations.

Furthermore, Payveris’ bank and credit union clients will be able to provide the Paymentus platform to their business and commercial clients who have bills that need to be presented and paid.

Payveris CEO Ron Bergamesca said: “Paymentus is the perfect home for Payveris. The companies have strong cultural and strategic alignment and highly complementary technologies that, when combined, create a real-time payment network connecting consumer accounts at their financial institutions and their billers.

“This network will be the foundation for delivering rapid digital payment innovation to financial institutions.”