Yaspa secures $12M to fuel US expansion and safer gambling
London-based fintech Yaspa is back in the spotlight after , with Discerning Capital leading the round. The funding will aim to fast-track its move into the United States and roll out its account-to-account (A2A) payment tech to operators in the regulated gambling space. The company’s pitch is a strong one, and the timing couldn’t be better for a market that’s crying out for smarter, faster, and safer financial tools.
Intelligent payments and the future of iGaming
At the heart of Yaspa’s platform is its Intelligent Payments system. This setup combines real-time bank transfers with identity checks and behavioural insights. Built around open banking infrastructure and artificial intelligence, it enables instant, verified transactions, without the need for card numbers, passcodes, or third-party apps.
For gambling operators, that means deposits and withdrawals that are quicker for players, and a customisable dashboard that offers insight into player activity, compliance risk, and overall user behaviour.
It’s easy to see why this tech has appeal in the regulated sector, where expectations around security and user experience are only getting higher. A2A payments, particularly those using open banking rails, are being increasingly recognised for their reliability. Faster transfers, stronger fraud protection, and higher approval rates all play a part, and for operators, the added benefit comes in the form of lower processing costs and fewer chargebacks compared to older, card-based setups.
US market poised for open banking boom
Yaspa’s US push comes as the country’s open banking sector experiences rapid growth. Research from the projects the industry will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 22.5 percent between 2024 and 2031. That trajectory would see the market jump from $7.08 billion in 2023 to $35.79 billion by the decade’s end.
Consumer demand for faster, more personalised financial services is a big part of that shift, along with the rise of digital-first fintechs that are shaking up traditional banking. With its US base in Atlanta, Yaspa is gearing up to meet this momentum head-on. The company is building a local team and adapting its platform to the needs of American operators.
CEO James Neville is optimistic about what’s ahead:
“This significant investment marks a major milestone for Yaspa. It enables us to take our proven technology into a new market at pace – hiring a local team, building strategic partnerships and adapting our platform to meet the specific needs of operators. We’re looking forward to supporting businesses that want to lead on compliance, player safety and user experience as the market matures.”
바카라er protection and regulatory alignment
Yaspa’s approach isn’t just about speeding up payments, it’s also built with safety in mind. Operators using the platform can carry out affordability checks in real time, flag risky activity, and identify vulnerable users using AI-powered risk analysis, something that’s increasingly important as regulators in both the UK and the US explore ways to carry out financial checks that are both effective and non-invasive.
The company has also received support from Innovate UK to build out a platform that merges payments and AI to create safer gambling tools. As Neville explained:
“With Innovate UK’s support, Yaspa will play a pivotal role in the future of compliance within the gambling sector. With the use of fast-growing technologies including AI and open banking, our Safer Gambling platform will reimagine how affordability checks are conducted and actioned to protect vulnerable players.”
This sits neatly within the industry’s wider move to embed player protection tools directly into payment flows, a shift that continues to gain traction, as previously explored in my earlier piece on how open banking is reshaping the iGaming space.
Backing the round, Discerning Capital’s David Williams, who will now join Yaspa’s board, shared why the firm is betting on this particular solution:
“The high-risk nature of gambling payments makes it an area in need of innovation and we believe Yaspa addresses two of the biggest issues: chargebacks and player protections. We believe that any operator who evaluates Yaspa’s A2A product versus their existing payments provider will end up adding Yaspa.”
With open banking set to take a stronger foothold in the US, Yaspa’s mix of speed, compliance, and intelligence could make it a key player in the evolving gambling payments landscape.
