On June 12, Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) announced a significant move to acquire 100% of Kadmos Holding GmbH, a Berlin-based fintech company specializing in digital salary payment platforms for seafarers. This strategic acquisition aims to expand NYK’s financial services within the global maritime industry. While details regarding the financial aspects of the deal were not disclosed, completion is anticipated in the upcoming weeks.
Kadmos, founded in 2021 by MIT alumni Justus Schmueser and Sasha Makarovych, is recognized for providing a modern and secure payment system. This platform facilitates transparent salary payments for seafarers, irrespective of their location, thus improving operational efficiency for shipowners and management companies. The fintech operates out of Berlin and London, boasting over 40 enterprise clients. Its innovative features allow for cashless transactions on vessels, including virtual point-of-sale (POS) systems and peer-to-peer transfers. Kadmos also provides non-personalized salary cards widely accepted, enabling faster and easier implementation of payment systems.
Unlike other competitors in the maritime payment landscape, such as MarTrust and ShipMoney, Kadmos differentiates itself by offering a comprehensive end-to-end solution rather than just software-as-a-service (SaaS) functionalities. Prior to acquiring Kadmos, NYK had already invested in financial services through its 2019 initiative MarCoPay Inc. Based in Manila, MarCoPay focuses on supporting Filipino seafarers by offering digital payments, loans, and insurance. It is notably the only digital payment provider in the Philippines licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
NYK plans to incorporate Kadmos into the MarCoPay platform, extending payroll solutions beyond Filipino crew members to seafarers of all nationalities. This synergy seeks to enhance payment management for shipowners and address the specific requirements of diverse crew members. Kadmos co-founder Makarovych expressed optimism about leveraging NYK’s global reputation to accelerate client acquisition and industry scaling. Future plans for Kadmos include broadening their offerings beyond payroll to encompass cross-border B2B payments and corporate card services, indicating an ambition to explore the cruise industry and provide more financial tools for seafarers and shipping companies alike.
This acquisition illustrates NYK’s commitment to modernizing financial services in maritime operations, promoting more efficient payment processing while meeting regulatory compliance as per the Maritime Labour Convention standards. Overall, the integration of Kadmos and NYK’s existing platforms marks a significant step toward enhancing financial processes in the global maritime sector.
Source link
