Fintech start-up thinks big with aim to create 275 jobs
Two brothers say they want to create over 250 jobs and have unveiled a plan to disrupt the payments industry by putting social conscience firmly at the heart of their new fintech start-up.
Danny and Lee Dunne have launched Burton-based Payaro, a payments company which will operate initially within the UK and will automatically support good causes.
The pair will initially take on 16 staff at their headquarters in Burton, plus a team of 60 self-employed sales agents. There are plans for further recruitment of 200 more self-employed sales agents during 2021, as well as expanding the company’s own team.
Payaro’s technology makes a donation to a designated organisation with every transaction. The Dunne brother say the move is a “huge shift” for the sector – as it moves away from wealth creation and focuses on giving back to the community.
Danny Dunne is a former head of ISV partnerships at Retail Merchant Services and before that, head of business strategy at Breathe Payments.
He said: “We are inspired by helping others who need it most and we are all about giving back, which is why our mission is to help the most vulnerable in society. There seems to be a huge upswell in caring and concern across the UK at present, and the independent businesses which we spoke with were very often just looking for the right way to turn their concerns into actions, we have set the business up to facilitate this and leveraging strong meaningful relationships to deliver on our objectives.”
Lee Dunne, who was head of the ISV Channel and indirect sales at Retail Merchant Services added: “Whilst there are some examples of corporate social responsibility in the industry, the larger providers are generally focused on their ‘bottom line’ and the smaller ones are simply trying to survive. Where we differ is that the whole purpose of Payaro is to help the most vulnerable. This value is at the front of every decision we make.”
The company officially launched on Monday, January 4.
The first organisation Payaro will be helping is the Buddy Bag Foundation, a Midlands-based charity that helps young children who are in emergency accommodation after fleeing domestic violence.
Danny and Lee are joined by Steve Moore as head of sales. He said: “It’s so easy. Whenever a customer buys anything using a credit or debit card, a small fee is charged to the business owner. A portion of that fee will be automatically donated to The Buddy Bag Foundation, and Payaro will make a donation too. The individual amounts may be tiny but multiplied by the number of card transactions which we see each day, means that many thousands of disadvantaged children will receive emergency help from the Buddy Bag Foundation – a quite wonderful cause.”
Moore has worked in the payments industry for the past 11 years, for both Worldpay and Retail Merchant Services. That follows a 25-year career in retail banking.
He added: “It’s not just important to us – once we started sharing our ideas with business owners and corporate partners, the response was amazing – without fail, everyone we talked to was supportive.”
Danny Dunne: “In 12 months Payaro will have helped thousands of vulnerable children via the Buddy Bag Foundation, and I have no doubt that our company will have grown so that we can guarantee to help many thousands more in the years which follow.”
Karen Williams OBE, founder of the Buddy Bag foundation, said: “We are so grateful that they have chosen us, this will give us some much-needed funds to help as many children as we can.”
