SumUp, the payments and business banking company, said today (Tuesday) it has partnered with Berlin-based investment infrastructure firm Upvest to bring money market fund investing to its merchant app, giving small business owners access to capital markets tools through the same platform they use for payments and everyday banking.
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The feature went live in Germany this month and allows merchants to direct a portion of their account balance into euro-denominated money market funds, with investments starting at €1. SumUp said a broader rollout across Europe and the United Kingdom is planned, though it did not specify a timeline for those markets.
Idle Cash, Modest Returns
Money market funds pool capital into short-term, high-quality debt instruments and are typically designed to preserve principal while generating modest returns above standard deposit rates. SumUp is positioning the product as a straightforward way for small business owners, who often leave surplus cash sitting in low-yield accounts, to put those funds to work without switching platforms or taking on significant market risk, according to the company.
Behind the feature sits Upvest's investment infrastructure, which handles order execution and settlement, custody, regulatory reporting, and tax processing on SumUp's behalf, the companies said. That arrangement lets SumUp offer the capability without building out its own securities operations.
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"Small businesses are under constant pressure to set money aside for a rainy day," said Felix Lamouroux, SVP of Global Banking at SumUp. "Yet too often this money sits idle in deposits, when it could be earning interest through investments."
Upvest Expands Its Client Roster
For Upvest, the deal adds a merchant-focused partner to a client portfolio that already includes consumer fintechs such as Revolut, N26, bunq, Webull, and Raisin, as well as digital banks Openbank and DKB.
Earlier this month, the Berlin-based firm raised $125 million at a valuation of €640 million, nearly double the €360 million it was valued at when it last raised capital in December 2024. The company processes more than 100 million trades per year and employs 280 people, according to its own figures.
"Powered by Upvest's Investment API, SumUp can now offer a best-in-class investment proposition for merchants to grow their wealth," said Upvest CEO and co-founder Martin Kassing. "This partnership shows how modern investment infrastructure can make capital markets investing accessible and operationally simple at scale."
The arrangement reflects a broader pattern in embedded finance, where investment or banking products are layered into platforms originally built for other purposes. SumUp itself has been steadily adding financial services around its payment core, having partnered with Adyen in 2024 to expand payment capabilities for small and medium-sized businesses.
Upvest, meanwhile, expanded its own product range in January 2026 by adding 2.5 million securitized derivatives instruments to its platform in a deal with Boerse Stuttgart.
SumUp Pushes Deeper into Financial Services
SumUp, founded in 2012 and serving more than 4 million merchants across 37 markets, has been broadening its product range well beyond card readers for several years, adding free business accounts, merchant cash advances, invoicing tools, and point-of-sale registers to its lineup.
The company raised €285 million in late 2023 at a valuation above €8 billion, money earmarked partly for product expansion and new market entry.
Adding an investment layer to its banking offering fits that trajectory, though the initial scope is narrow. For now, SumUp merchants are limited to euro-denominated money market funds, a lower-risk product category. The company has not disclosed any plans to offer equities, bonds, or other asset classes through the platform.
