Global payments company Network Merchants Inc. today revealed that it has acquired the payments solution arm of underwriting and onboarding software solutions provider Agreement Express Inc. to expand its commerce offering.

Founded in 2001, Agreement Express offers a software-as-a-service platform that automates client onboarding processes for financial services firms. The company’s product is said to reduce underwriting risk and speed up the onboarding process with technology customized to fit specific needs.

Agreement Express’ service delivers a Stripe-like experience with an online five-minute onboarding of application processes. Key features include the ability to make more informed decisions with resources and data tracking, merchant management through self-service forms, and a reduction in not-in-good-order rates by 30%.

Coming into its acquisition, investors in Agreement Express include Silicon Valley Bank and Frontier Capital, the latter of which took a majority stake in the company in 2018. Upon closing of the deal, Frontier will continue to own Agreement Express’s wealth management arm. Notable Agreement Express customers include Avidia Bank, BlueSnap Inc., The Mather Group LLC and Valmar Merchant Services LLC.

The combination of NMI and Agreement Express is said to give independent software vendors and financial technology partners the ability to sign up and make money from merchants more quickly and easily. With the addition of Agreement Express’s payments solutions, NMI has expanded its full commerce enablement offering to include underwriting and risk monitoring capabilities that substantially enhance its merchant sign-up offering.

Other features gained through the acquisition include the addition of customizable risk scoring, automated data collection, compliance monitoring, ongoing Know Your Customer, anti-money-laundering and fraud screenings. The addition will allow channel partners to streamline these processes more easily and grow their merchant portfolios without heavy lifting, NMI says.

“Coming together with NMI was a natural fit and creates added value through a new distribution channel to not only our joint partners but also the broader market,” Dave O’Brien, chief executive officer of Agreement Express, said in a statement. “As the payments landscape continues to evolve, companies are looking for new ways to scale with modular solutions and bringing together our solutions provides even more freedom of choice.”

NMI is a late-stage venture capital-funded company, having raised $620 million, according to Crunchbase. Investors include Insight Partners, Great Hill Partners and Bregal Sagemount.

Image: Agreement Express