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Allica Bank, the UK’s fastest-growing fintech, has announced the acquisition of Kriya, a leading SME lending and embedded finance specialist, in a deal that significantly expands its reach into the SME finance and payments market.
Allica Bank acquires Kriya
The acquisition marks a strategic move by Allica to extend its working capital offering, positioning the bank as a key challenger to high street incumbents that have steadily withdrawn from SME lending.
The partnership brings together two complementary businesses with a shared vision: to modernise SME finance through technology, data and deep customer relationships.
Kriya—formerly MarketInvoice and later MarketFinance—has built a strong reputation for enabling small businesses to access flexible funding solutions.
Since its launch in 2011, the fintech has processed over £4 billion in invoice finance, SME loans, and embedded finance transactions across more than 300,000 deals.
By integrating Kriya’s platform and expertise, Allica plans to lend £1 billion in working capital to SMEs over the next three years.
The bank, which began lending in 2020, already has £3.5 billion in outstanding loans and aims to capture 10% of the UK’s established SME finance market by 2028.
Expanding Into Embedded Payments
The deal also marks Allica’s first move into the embedded payments space, building on Kriya’s PayLater solution—used by major B2B retailers such as Halfords—to help SME buyers manage cashflow directly at checkout.
Kriya will continue operating under its own brand, led by co-founder and CEO Anil Stocker, with all employees joining Allica as part of the transaction.
Allica CEO Richard Davies said the acquisition reflects a shared commitment to reinventing SME finance: “For too long, SMEs have struggled to access flexible finance as the high street banks have retrenched. Together, we can offer something the market desperately needs.”
Stocker echoed the sentiment, highlighting the importance of scale and reach, “Combining forces with Allica gives us the platform to accelerate growth and take our embedded finance offering across Europe.”
With this acquisition—its third in four years—Allica strengthens its position as the fintech redefining SME banking in Britain, combining traditional relationship banking with technology-led innovation and a clear focus on Open Banking-enabled finance solutions.
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