KeyBank Forms Strategic Alliance With XUP To Transform Merchant Services

CLEVELAND, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyBank today announced its strategic affiliation with an equity investment in XUP Payments ("XUP"), a leading payments innovator, to deliver a digital and physical merchant services experience that provides an end-to-end streamlined process for sales, onboarding, activation, and servicing.

This collaboration, along with the launch of the Key Merchant Services ("KMS") improved acquisition and servicing website, marks the most recent in a series of partnerships with emerging fintech providers, affirming Key's commitment to bringing innovative, digital first solutions to market. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

"Our new KMS digital platform provides businesses with a superior overall experience in conjunction with our robust merchant processing solution," said Jon Briggs, head of KeyBank Commercial Product & Innovation. "The collaboration with XUP further complements KMS' new relationship with Boomtown Network, Inc., which further drives the digital merchant customer experience."

"We are deeply appreciative of the partnership with KeyBank and the confidence they have in us to provide a seamless merchant processing solution," said Chris May, XUP president. "We could not be more excited about the insights and strategic guidance KeyBank will offer, and we look forward to working with them as we continue to build XUP's exciting future."

The latest investment in XUP illustrates KeyBank's model of teaming up with fintechs to provide innovative solutions that deliver ease and value to our clients by providing flexibility on how and where they do business with Key. It marks the most recent in a series of relationships with emerging fintech providers.  

The affiliation with XUP and Boomtown's CXMEngine helps KMS overcome customer, technology, and speed-to-market challenges by offering a fully digital experience in addition to traditional customer channels. Additionally, the CXMEngine adds digital servicing capabilities with chat functionality that improve conflict resolution time for small businesses.

By investing in XUP, KeyBank has given further credence to the notion that a seamless end-to-end digital experience for merchants is crucial to elevating business standards in the merchant process. KeyBank is the first commercial bank in the U.S. to invest in XUP.

About KeyCorp
KeyCorp's (NYSE: KEY) roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $176.2 billion at March 31, 2021. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,100 branches and more than 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

About XUP
XUP, short for transactions "up", is a Banking as a Service platform that allows financial institutions to take back the merchant experience. Our platform offers a seamless connection between merchants, financial service providers, and acquirers across all channels. XUP combines years of industry expertise with deep payments and technical knowledge to offer products that deliver our clients' desired merchant experience. XUP is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. For additional information, visit us at www.xuppay.com.

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SOURCE KeyBank