PayNearMe Acquires AI Firm Marr Labs

PayNearMe announced it has acquired Marr Labs, an artificial intelligence company, with the goal of adding Marr Labs’ AI capabilities to PayNearMe’s payments platform. Financial terms and a closing date were not disclosed.

PayNearMe provides payment processing and receivables-management services to billers, utilities, governments and retailers. The company plans to fold Marr Labs’ team and software assets into its engineering organization to add automation and data-driven features across the platform.

The company expects the acquisition to accelerate development of predictive analytics and decisioning tools used in payment routing, verification and customer support. No technical roadmap, product timetable or list of first-updated products was released.

Marr Labs develops machine learning models and data-driven software for enterprise customers. Neither PayNearMe nor Marr Labs disclosed how many Marr Labs employees will move to PayNearMe or whether the Marr Labs brand will continue to operate independently.

Industry interest in applying AI to payments has grown, with common uses including fraud detection, dispute resolution and personalized billing. The acquisition follows other technology deals by financial services companies aimed at adding AI capabilities to their stacks.

PayNearMe indicated it will continue working with existing clients and partners during the integration and that customer service and platform availability will be maintained. No public comment from customers or regulators was provided at the time of the announcement, and further details are expected as the companies complete the integration.