Pay With Spire, a pay-by-bank provider focused on everyday in-store spend, has appointed Jennifer LaClair as chief executive officer and closed a $10 million Series B financing led by Continental Investment Partners, with participation from additional investors. The company said the new capital will be used to drive client growth and scale infrastructure as it expands pay-by-bank access for merchants and consumers.
Spire positions its offering as a modern, low-cost, secure, and rewarding pay-by-bank solution at the point of sale. The company said it enables pay-by-bank over credit card rails, allowing payments at more than 200,000 terminals without POS integration, while offering credit card-like settlement. Spire said the platform is intended to deliver near-universal acceptance, enhanced security, and actionable data for merchants, while giving consumers a familiar checkout experience through an app, physical card, or digital payments, along with access to savings and deals.
LaClair joins with more than two decades of experience across banking, payments, and fintech, including senior roles at Fiserv, Ally Financial, and PNC Financial Services. Most recently, she served as head of merchant solutions at Fiserv, overseeing global payment solutions for more than 1,000 enterprise merchants and 2 million small-business merchants. Prior to Fiserv, she was CFO of Ally Financial, and earlier spent a decade at PNC, including as head of PNC’s business bank and a leader in merchant strategy and a joint venture with Fiserv.
As part of the leadership transition, Spire said Matt Brennan will move into the role of president and chief commercial officer, partnering with LaClair to accelerate growth while remaining active with key clients.
KEY QUOTES
“I’m honored to step into this role during such a pivotal time for Spire; there is clearly a surging demand from merchants and consumers for a cost effective and frictionless in-store Pay-by-Bank solution. Spire is making everyday spending seamless, secure, low-cost, and rewarding for both merchants and consumers. And with this new investment, we can expand and scale our industry leading platform across verticals.”
Jennifer LaClair, Chief Executive Officer, Pay With Spire
“Spire is redefining the future of payments for everyday spend, and that’s why we are excited to lead this financing. Spire is an innovative company with a strong history of delivering exceptional value for the payments industry. We are excited to welcome Jennifer to the team. With this investment and the onboarding of Jennifer as CEO, we’re confident Spire will set the standard for Pay-by-Bank adoption as open banking in the US takes hold.”
Paul Purcell, Head of Growth Capital, Continental Investment Partners; Board Member, Pay With Spire
