
Reform UK treasurer Candy sweet on merger of payments firms
A payments company backed by Nick Candy, the Reform UK treasurer, will this week announce a tie-up with a London-based peer amid a rapidly shifting industry landscape.
Sky News has learnt that VibePay, in which Candy Ventures is the largest shareholder, has agreed a deal to sell itself to Banked, a so-called 'pay by bank' platform.
The all-share deal, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday, will see Mr Candy's investment vehicle holding a stake of roughly 25% in the combined group, according to insiders.
One source said the deal would value the enlarged company at in excess of $100m.
As part of the transaction, the VibePay founder, Luke Massie, and Candy Ventures director Steven Smith will join the board of Banked.
VibePay specialises in 'conversational commerce', providing personalised offers and peer-to-peer payments to its users, connecting them to brands, sellers and banks.
People close to the deal said that the takeover would help address a market opportunity by rewarding debit customers who have been overlooked by credit card operators, with debit card payments making up nearly 90% of all UK card payments but representing just a tiny fraction of payment rewards.
Banked counts global financial giants including Bank of America, Citi, FIS and NAB among its strategic investors and partners.
It has previously raised more than $60m in funding, while VibePay has raised over $10m from its backers.
The deal is understood to be awaiting approval from the City regulator.
In response to an enquiry from Sky News, Mr Candy said: "I've been a strong supporter of VibePay, and I'm excited about the future with Banked.
"The global vision of the Banked founders is truly inspiring, and I see immense potential in the combined vision for the next generation of payments.
"This is a positive moment for the UK technology sector, with two British companies coming together to drive forward a global ambition.
"I'm proud to be a part of this journey and am eager to champion this story both in the UK and internationally."
Mr Massie added: "We've spent years building technology that genuinely connects people - not just for transactions, but for experiences.
"By joining forces with Banked, we now have the infrastructure, global reach, and merchant access to supercharge what we've built, and deliver real value to consumers at scale."
Banked bought Waave, an Australian pay-by-bank provider, last October, strengthening its international presence, while it has a partnership with NAB - one of Australia's biggest lenders - to offer a service to Amazon customers in the country.
"The real value in Pay by Bank goes beyond cheap and secure payments; it's in making spending work for everyone," said Brad Goodall, Banked's chief executive.
"The combination of Banked and VibePay will drive Pay by Bank adoption through innovative consumer incentives - on par with credit cards - and empower merchants with deep data insights to drive acquisition and retention like never before.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
DragonForce and Scattered Spider: Inside the hacker groups linked to M&S cyberattack
Marks & Spencer has finally reopened its online orders, months after a cyber attack which is set to cost the British high street retailer £300 million in profits this year. This comes as a new hacking group has been connected with the incident, after it was revealed the DragonForce group sent M&S CEO Stuart Machin an email days after it faced a major cyberattack gloating about the hack and demanding ransom payment. The email, seen and reported by the BBC, said: 'We have marched the ways from China all the way to the UK and have mercilessly raped your company and encrypted all the servers.' DragonForce aren't the only group that have been connected with the attack on the retailer, as the Scattered Spider network had previously been named as the enactors of the social engineering attack. According to Sergey Shyekevich, a researcher from cybersecurity company Checkpoint, more hacker groups are forming alliances on the dark web. 'Co-operation between two powerful groups is very interesting,' he says. 'It's one outcome we see on the dark web more and more, alliances between big groups.' Here's all we know about the two hacker groups What is DragonForce? DragonForce is a hacker organisation that offers Ransomware to cyber-criminal affiliates for a 20 per cent cut of any ransoms collected. This means that for a fee, they lease out their malware through dark web marketplaces to cyber-criminals. While the organisation originally started working in 2023, they've had a massive re-marketing of their business model in the past couple of months. 'In the last two months, they started to become very active in one of the biggest dark web forums,' says Sergey, who says they have marketed themselves as a 'Ransomware Cartel', cornering that market on the dark web in the past month. 'They started being more aggressive I think a few weeks before all the attacks in the UK,' he adds. Researchers have claimed they operate out of Malaysia, with some disputing this and saying they are located in Russia. As well as the M&S hack, DragonForce has been linked to the Co-op cyberattack. What is Scattered Spider? Scattered Spider is a community of hackers that targets huge organisations across different sectors using social engineering tactics. 'They're very good at social engineering of different types,' Sergey says, adding that in the past they have used SIM swapping and impersonated IT staff to trick people into letting them use their systems. Believed to be a community of young adults across the US and UK, the group gained notoriety for their involvement in hacking and extorting two of the largest casino and gambling companies in the United States. 'They understand human nature and how big corporations work,' says Sergey. 'They're very successful.' In 2023 they were linked to the hacking and extortion of Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, which led the former to pay a ransom of approximately £11 million ($15 million). They were able to access a significant number of driver's licence numbers and possibly even Social Security numbers of the casino customers through the ransomware demand. A 17-year-old hacker from the United Kingdom was arrested in connection with the hack and attempted ransom in July 2024. How did the cyberattack happen? M&S first disclosed they had experienced a cyberattack on 22 April, which had disrupted their online operations and even halted contactless payments. Hundreds of agency workers at the company were told not to come into work as the retailer dealt with the fallout of the cyberattack. Customer personal data – which could have included names, email addresses, postal addresses and dates of birth – was also taken by hackers in the attack. M&S revealed last month that the attack was caused by 'human error', as Mr Machin said in an annual figures report in May that the hackers gained access to the company's IT systems through a third party. He said at the time: 'We didn't leave the door open, this wasn't anything to do with under-investment. Everyone is vulnerable. For us, we were unlucky on this particular day through some human error.' Responding to attacks on the retail sector, the NCSC put out advice to the industry and responded to speculation that the Scattered Spider group had used social engineering to target IT help desks and perform password and MFA (multi-factor authentication) resets. 'Criminal activity online – including, but not limited to, ransomware and data extortion – is rampant,' their blog post wrote. 'Attacks like this are becoming more and more common. And all organisations, of all sizes, need to be prepared.' Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, said: 'Specialist NCA cybercrime officers are working closely with law enforcement partners to investigate the recent cyber incidents affecting the retail sector. Identifying the criminals responsible and bringing them to justice is a top priority. 'We are considering the incidents individually, but have a range of hypotheses and are mindful they may be linked. 'The impact of these incidents has been significant and businesses will understandably be concerned. I'd encourage all organisations to follow advice on the NCSC's website to ensure they have effective cyber security measures in place to help prevent attacks. 'I'd also urge those that do unfortunately fall victim to an attack to engage with law enforcement as part of the reporting process. The NCA and policing will investigate covertly and discreetly, as well as support the recovery of systems and data.' How much money has M&S lost? The fallout from the cyberattack saw the company lose £650 million of value in a matter of days. M&S said it expected to take an estimated £300 million hit to profits this year, as they predicted disruption to its online business to last into July. What has M&S said in response? As M&S reopened its online operations, they put out a statement which said: 'You can now place online orders with standard delivery to England, Scotland and Wales. Delivery to Northern Ireland will resume in the coming weeks. 'We will resume click and collect, next-day delivery, nominated-day delivery and international ordering in the coming weeks.'

Western Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Starmer and Reynolds meet US commerce secretary in push to implement trade deal
The Prime Minister dropped in on a meeting between Howard Lutnick and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in Downing Street on Tuesday. Mr Lutnick was in London for talks with China on resolving the trade war between Washington and Beijing, and Mr Reynolds took the opportunity to meet him in person to push for the UK-US trade deal announced last month to be implemented as soon as possible. The meeting follows talks between the Business Secretary and US trade representative Jamieson Greer in Paris last week. Under the terms of the agreement announced by Sir Keir and Donald Trump, the US will implement import quotas that will effectively eliminate tariffs on British steel and cut the levy on vehicles to 10%. But the deal has yet to be implemented and tariffs on both steel and cars remain at 25%, although the UK has been spared the increase on steel duties to 50% that Mr Trump imposed on the rest of the world last week. In a post on social media, Mr Reynolds said he had discussed 'progress on our trade deal – including UK autos and steel' with Mr Lutnick. UK officials remain hopeful that the deal will be implemented soon, but Tuesday's meeting does not appear to have moved the issue beyond both sides agreeing the need to move quickly. Speaking in the Commons last week, Sir Keir said he was 'very confident' that tariffs would come down in line with the deal 'within a very short time'. Implementing the deal will require the UK to pass legislation, likely to involve regulations rather than a full Act of Parliament, while the US will also need to create a legal mechanism to bring steel and vehicle quotas into effect.


North Wales Chronicle
29 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Reeves to promise investment in ‘renewal' as she unveils spending plans
The Chancellor is expected to announce big increases in spending on the NHS, defence and schools as part of a spending review set to include £113 billion of investment thanks to looser borrowing rules. She will also reveal changes to the Treasury's 'green book' rules that govern which projects receive investment in an effort to boost spending outside London and the South East. Arguing that this investment is 'possible only because of the stability I have introduced' after the October budget, Ms Reeves is expected to say her spending review will 'ensure that renewal is felt in people's everyday lives, their jobs, their communities'. She will say: 'The priorities in this spending review are the priorities of working people. 'To invest in our country's security, health and economy so working people all over our country are better off.' Among the other announcements expected at the spending review is £39 billion for affordable homes over the next 10 years as the Government seeks to meet its promise of building 1.5 million homes by the next election. The Treasury said this would see annual investment in affordable housing rise to £4 billion by 2029/30, almost double the average of £2.3 billion between 2021 and 2026. A Government source said: 'We're turning the tide against the unacceptable housing crisis in this country with the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation, delivering on our plan for change commitment to get Britain building.' The Chancellor has also already announced some £15.6 billion of spending on public transport in England's city regions, and £16.7 billion for nuclear power projects, the bulk of which will fund the new Sizewell C plant in Suffolk. But the spending review is expected to set out tough spending limits for departments other than health, defence and education. Although Ms Reeves is reported to have agreed to an above-inflation increase in the policing budget, this is thought to have come at the expense of cuts in other parts of Home Office spending. And sources close to London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan have expressed concern that the spending review will have nothing for the capital. Ahead of the spending review, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that any increase in NHS funding above 2.5% is likely to mean real-terms cuts for other departments or further tax rises to come in the budget this autumn. The Chancellor has already insisted that her fiscal rules remain in place, along with Labour's manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT. She will say on Wednesday: 'I have made my choices. In place of chaos, I choose stability. In place of decline, I choose investment. In place of retreat, I choose national renewal. 'These are my choices. These are this Government's choices. These are the British people's choices.'