Celero Commerce Buys Community Bankers Merchant Services
Nonbank payment processor Celero Commerce has bought Community Bankers Merchant Services (CBMS) to add more options for payments processing, a press release said.
CBMS provides electronic transaction processing for community and regional banks. It was founded in 1989 and has worked with various banks, offering a suite of payment processing solutions for smaller customers.
“Like Celero, we have always focused on providing superior service to our community bank partners and their merchants. We could not be happier to be joining the Celero team,” said CBMS Chief Operating Officer Dean Morris. “Their depth of experience and breadth of products and technology will allow us to provide better solutions to our banks and their customers.”
Celero founder and CEO Kevin Jones said CBMS “fits well within our organization, and we are excited to serve community and regional banks together.”
Jones cited CBMS’s experience supporting bank partners’ growth as a reason why the partnership fit.
Companies have been innovating in the field of payment processing for some time, including the recent partnership between money transfer service Wise and payments processing company Plaid, to work on letting customers move money across various financial institutions.
Read more: Wise, Plaid Launch Open Finance Partnership
The companies, in a press release Aug. 10, said the idea was to capitalize on the importance of financial technology, in which around 70% of U.S. consumers might switch institutions if their primary account couldn’t connect with their favorite fintech apps and services.
“To meet this growing demand, Wise and Plaid have partnered to serve millions of consumers the secure data access they need to live healthy financial lives,” the companies said.
The integration will let Wise’s 13 million customers access the ability to move money “conveniently and securely” across their own accounts. Customers will be able to connect their Wise USD local account details in their account of choice, using Wise with one of numerous Plaid-powered apps and services.
“By working with Plaid, we’re giving customers the ability to connect their accounts to the apps and services they know and love in the U.S. instantly and without hidden fees,” said Wise Senior Director of Global Expansion Sharon Ann Kean in a press release. “As we build money without borders, our customers will continue to see deeper integrations in the market to ensure the Wise account meets the local functionality needed for American consumers.”