Imegamedia has over the past 10 years become one of the leading experts in retail finance integration. It is UK-based and provides an end-to-end industry-leading ecommerce solution.
We have an international reach, with lenders in the UK, Europe and America and work closely with our partners to help them stay ahead of the competition in terms of innovation and offering. We are passionate about increasing online sales and increasing our clients’ brand awareness across the web.
Imegamedia was acquired by Deko Group in August. The motivation behind the acquisition was our shared purpose, vision and desire to make connecting to online finance simple, for any of our partners. Imegamedia’s mission within the Deko Group is to become a trusted partner to a wide range of lenders and retailers, not just in the UK, but across the globe. Deko has long championed a multi-lender, market aggregated approach to checkout finance and so the two ecosystems complement each other well.
Imegamedia is particularly proud of our platform’s ability to onboard new partners more quickly than any of our competitors, and we have now onboarded 17 Financial Services partners since launch. This deal will therefore provide Deko with expanded integration capability, a same-day installation service for any merchant, from any sector as well as faster customer access to Deko’s unique multi-lender platform.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
My background is in finance, with the likes of JP Morgan, and I realised around 2008 that retail finance had a real problem with online integrations. We developed a solid platform capable of onboarding new lenders and platforms much faster, which led to economies of scale and a breadth of service that, when combined with our two-hour installation timeframe, enabled us to grow rapidly.
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How has the company evolved during the pandemic?
We’ve gone through a period of exciting growth over the last couple of years, in a way spurred on by the pandemic, which has accelerated the use of digital platforms, ecommerce and retail finance. So, we had considerable momentum ahead of the deal with Deko and that has continued.
Although it has only been a couple of months, the transition is moving ahead well. Deko and Imega are both trusted names for lending and integration, enabling all our partners to work seamlessly.
The acquisition has been well received by our other partners and customers. All existing partners will continue to receive the same high levels of independent service as part of the deal and will also get access to new and enhanced features as the Deko integration continues.
What can we hope to see from Imegamedia in the future?
In the coming months, from technology to talent management to marketing we will begin building on the unique offering we provide to grow the business at scale as there is huge untapped demand.
It was estimated earlier this year that 4 in 10 Britons had utilised a buy-now-pay-later service, with the market expected to double in size by 2023. Yet, despite the surge in its popularity, 95% of retail businesses do not provide a retail finance or buy-now-pay-later service. Addressing this issue and helping Deko to expand its reach among retailers and increase the lenders on its panel lies at the heart of our strategy.
We also have clear ambitions to expand into other BNPL markets, where we see great potential to help merchants, regardless of geography, boost sales and drive their growth.
What brought Imegamedia and Deko together?
Deko’s offering means that it can ensure customers will be matched with a number of lenders through a click of a button, to finance their purchases and boost merchant sales. It’s a big point of difference, helping merchants to increase their power at checkout, and something that really appealed to us at Imegamedia as we also work with multiple lenders.
So, when Deko expressed interest in acquiring Imegamedia, it was a compelling proposition. Deko’s goals – “any basket, anytime, anywhere” – made the acquisition a perfect fit. We also knew Deko well, having worked with them for many years, so it was very natural to become partners.
