Payr secures £1.56m seed to let tenants pay rent with credit cards
This article covers Payr, a London-based fintech startup, which has raised £1.56m ($2.1m) in a seed funding round to enable tenants to pay rent with credit cards while landlords continue to receive standard bank transfers. The development aims to modernise payment infrastructure in the £122.9bn UK rental market by converting a legacy bank-transfer flow into card-capable infrastructure, supporting tenant payment flexibility while preserving existing landlord workflows.
Payr, a London-based fintech startup, has raised £1.56m ($2.1m) in a seed funding round to let tenants pay rent with credit cards while landlords continue to receive standard bank transfers. The raise targets a long-standing friction point in the £122.9bn UK rental market and aims to convert a legacy payment flow into a modern card-capable infrastructure.
Why it matters
Rent is one of the largest recurring payments in the UK economy, yet it still largely runs on bank transfers. That matters because tenants increasingly expect payment flexibility, rewards and international card usability, while property professionals remain reluctant to change workflows that already settle reliably. If Payr’s approach works at scale, it could shift how millions of monthly rent transactions are processed without forcing landlords to adopt new systems.
The company frames the opportunity as structural: a large, under-digitised market and persistent consumer demand for card payments and benefits that many other spending categories already offer.
Inside the product
Payr describes its offering as a one-sided payments infrastructure. Tenants can pay rent using their existing credit cards; landlords and agents receive the full rent amount via a standard bank transfer and do not need to onboard or integrate new systems.
That design attempts to address two common barriers: the operational friction for property managers and the distribution of card fees. The startup says the funding will be used to expand integrations, deepen product infrastructure and accelerate distribution partnerships across the residential sector.
Who are the investors?
The £1.56m seed round was led by Ingenii Capital, with participation from Haatch, Velocity Capital, the British Business Bank and a group of strategic angel investors.
Ingenii Capital led the round and provided early backing and sector contacts. Haatch is an early-stage venture fund that often backs fintech founders. Velocity Capital is a venture investor focused on growth-stage opportunities. The British Business Bank is the UK government-backed economic development bank that supports smaller businesses and can add credibility for later public-private collaborations. Strategic angels in the round bring industry and product expertise that Payr expects to use as it deepens distribution into lettings channels.
In the announcement, Michael Boocher, Managing Partner at Ingenii Capital, said:
Teaming up with these four passionate young entrepreneurs has been an absolute blast; they’re incredibly tenacious and truly embody the spirit of entrepreneurship. It’s going to be one wild adventure ahead as they seize this overlooked £122.9bn ($165bn) market.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of fintech venture capital firms in the UK
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Arthur Greenwood, CEO and Co-Founder of Payr, said:
The rent payment experience has barely evolved in decades. 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.
Greenwood is positioning Payr as infrastructure rather than a single feature, emphasising interoperability with existing landlord workflows and the consumer benefits of card payments.
The bigger picture
This raise sits at the intersection of two trends in UK fintech: renewed investor interest in payments infrastructure and a push to modernise large legacy markets. The rental market’s size makes it attractive, but adoption will depend on convincing property managers and platforms that the model does not introduce compliance or fee burdens.
The deal also reflects continued attention from fintech investors to address "last mile" payment problems where consumer demand is clear but incumbent processes are entrenched.
This transaction adds to a steady flow of UK fintech funding aimed at unsexy but high-value infrastructure plays, and it signals that investors remain willing to back startups attempting to retrofit modern payment rails onto long-established industries.
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