PayKey, an Israeli-based startup that has developed a mobile app which enables bank customers to transfer money to friends in chat applications, has completed a $10 million funding raise.
The latest announcement follows a $6 million raise in November 2006 to further develop the mobile payment service, which lets bank customers transfer money instantly using popular social networks and messaging apps such as Facebook’s Messenger, WhatsApp and Twitter.
PayKey's patent-pending keyboard app bridges the gap between bank applications and social networks by adding optional banking icons to the bottom of the screen during in-app conversations.
Particpants in the latest round, led by led by MizMaa, include SBI Group, Siam Commercial Bank’s financial tech subsidiary Digital Ventures, SixThirty and FinTech71.
PayKey has already secured commercial deals with seven top tier banks, including Westpac, Turkey’s Garanti Bank and Bank Leumi.
The close of the round comes just four months after Apple ordered Westpac to disable the PayKey application on its app, leading to fears that the consumer electronics giant was preparing to launch its own equivalent service via Apple Pay.