Ryft
FCA-licensed embedded payments and split payment infrastructure for UK and European marketplaces and SaaS.
Overview
Ryft is a UK-based, FCA-authorised Payment Facilitator (PayFac) that provides embedded payment infrastructure to marketplaces, digital platforms, and vertical SaaS companies. Founded in 2021 by Sadra Hosseini and Alex Mackenzie — the team behind Butlr, a marketplace scaled to over one million users and acquired by OrderPay — Ryft was built to solve the multi-party payment challenges they couldn't find adequate solutions for elsewhere. The company holds FCA licence number 972895, making it a regulated payment institution authorised to facilitate payments, handle sub-merchant funds, and manage compliance under UK Payment Services Regulations 2017 and PSD2. The platform enables software platforms to embed the full payment stack directly into their product: online card acceptance (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay), automated split payments with configurable commission rules, real-time KYC/AML seller onboarding, escrow and delayed payout capabilities, recurring billing, white-label checkout experiences, and multi-currency support. Ryft operates as a PayFac-as-a-Service: it holds the master merchant account relationship with its acquiring bank partners (including Clearhaus and Worldpay), onboards platforms' customers as sub-merchants beneath it, and handles all compliance, fraud monitoring, chargeback management, and PCI DSS Level 1 obligations. Platforms integrate through a RESTful API and SDKs for Web, iOS, and Android. Ryft's primary differentiation versus Stripe Connect and Adyen for Platforms is its focus on the UK and European regulatory environment, volume-based pricing (customers report savings of up to 70% compared to Stripe), dedicated 24/7 UK-based support, and a business model that lets acquiring banks and platforms earn margin from payment flows they process. As of April 2025, the company serves 1,500+ merchants, has tripled GMV annually, reached break-even before its Series A, and has expanded into Europe via its Clearhaus partnership.
Key features
- Automated split payments with configurable commissions
- Built-in KYC/AML sub-merchant onboarding
- Escrow and conditional/delayed payouts
- White-label checkout (online, in-app, in-person)
- Recurring billing and subscription management
- Real-time payment analytics and reporting
Vertical focus
saas, marketplaces, b2b, ecommerce
Notable customers
Clearhaus, Epos Now, Love the Sales, SwiftOrder, Weldricks Pharmacy
At a glance
| Category | payments |
|---|---|
| Model | ["api","sdk","white_label"] |
| Pricing | ["transaction_fee","custom"] |
| Revenue share | Volume-based; reported savings up to 70% vs. Stripe Connect |
| Best company size | ["startup","smb","growth"] |
| Time to launch | weeks |
| Technical complexity | medium |
| PCI scope | minimal |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Funding stage | series_a |
| Website | https://www.ryftpay.com |
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