UK startup Payr raises $2.1m to bring credit cards to the $165bn UK rental market
Rent is one of the largest recurring payments in the UK economy, yet it still largely runs on traditional bank transfers. While consumers can pay for travel, groceries and even taxes by card, rent – often their biggest monthly expense – has remained structurally locked to legacy payment rails.
London-based fintech Payr has raised $2.1m in seed funding to change that.
The company has built what it describes as the first one-sided payments infrastructure that enables tenants to pay rent with their existing credit cards, while landlords receive the full rent amount via standard bank transfer. Crucially, landlords and agents do not need to onboard, integrate new systems or alter their workflows.
“The rent payment experience has barely evolved in decades,” said Arthur Greenwood, CEO and co-founder of Payr. “Consumers can pay almost everything by card except the one expense that matters most. We’ve rebuilt the payment architecture so tenants gain flexibility and rewards, while landlords simply receive their rent as normal. No new systems, no operational friction.”
The problem Payr is addressing is both behavioural and structural. Tenants increasingly expect flexibility, rewards and international usability across their financial lives. At the same time, property professionals have little incentive to adopt new payment tools, particularly when card fees and compliance constraints complicate the model. Payr’s solution removes that friction by allowing tenants to pay by card while preserving the existing settlement experience for landlords.
“Teaming up with these four passionate young entrepreneurs has been an absolute blast; they’re incredibly tenacious and truly embody the spirit of entrepreneurship,” said Michael Boocher, managing partner at Ingenii Capital. “It’s going to be one wild adventure ahead as they seize this overlooked $165bn market.”
The $2.1m round was led by Ingenii Capital, with participation from Haatch, Velocity Capital, the British Business Bank and a group of strategic angel investors. The funding will be used to expand integrations, deepen product infrastructure and accelerate distribution partnerships across the residential sector.
“Rent is a $165bn annual market in the UK alone,” Greenwood added. “We’re not building a feature, we’re building infrastructure for a payment category that has been overlooked for too long.”