Cashflows, the London-based card acquiring and payments platform, has taken a strategic investment stake in Tap & Go, a merchant services provider specialising in card payment technologies. The move formalises and extends a commercial relationship that began in 2025, when Cashflows began supplying the infrastructure and transaction settlement services underpinning card machines deployed by Tap & Go.
Neither company disclosed the size of the investment or the equity stake acquired. Cashflows chief executive Hannah Fitzsimons described the deal as more than a financial transaction, saying the firm believes in what Tap & Go is building and sees a clear opportunity to combine both organisations’ capabilities.
The deal
Tap & Go was founded in 2022 by Anna McDonald and Nichola Eagle, industry figures known in merchant services circles as the “Payment Ladies”, following recognition from parent group International Connections Group. The business recently completed a spin-out from ICG, and the Cashflows investment is the first external capital it has taken as a standalone entity.
Proceeds are earmarked for growth activity across several fronts: broadening the product suite beyond in-person card payments into e-commerce, virtual payments and multi-site solutions; investing in headcount; and expanding into new verticals including universities, stadiums, dental practices, hotels, builders’ merchants and the motor trade. Tap & Go also plans to develop “The Payment Ladies” as a standalone brand.
For Cashflows, the investment is presented as a signal of a wider strategic ambition. The company said it is exploring further investment opportunities, suggesting a buy-and-build or ecosystem-building approach rather than a one-off transaction.
McDonald said the partnership with Cashflows reflects a shared challenger mentality. “We are very proud to be a challenger in our own space and working with Cashflows, itself a challenger acquirer, bringing a shared level of tenacity, ambition and drive,” she said.
Market context
The UK merchant services market remains heavily concentrated, with large acquirers and their ISO distribution networks dominating volume. Challenger acquirers such as Cashflows compete primarily on service responsiveness, faster onboarding and tailored propositions for the mid-market and specialist verticals, where the large processors have historically underinvested.
The vertical expansion strategy that Tap & Go is pursuing, targeting universities, stadiums and the motor sector, reflects a broader trend among smaller merchant service providers seeking to build defensible positions in segments where payment complexity, such as multi-site reconciliation or sector-specific compliance, creates switching friction. This approach can generate sticky, higher-margin relationships that are harder for generalist competitors to replicate at scale.
The deal also carries a notable dimension in terms of leadership. Both Cashflows and Tap & Go are female-led, a meaningful data point in a sector where senior executive representation remains skewed. Whether that shared culture translates into a competitive commercial advantage is an open question, but it does reflect the broader push across UK fintech to diversify leadership pipelines in payments infrastructure, a segment that has historically lagged consumer fintech on that measure.
The next indicators to watch will be the specific verticals Tap & Go penetrates first, the pace of any further strategic investments by Cashflows, and whether the company eventually pursues a more formal licensing or regulatory upgrade as the product set expands beyond card-present acquiring.
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