NYK Acquires Kadmos To Build World’s Leading Digital Payroll Platform For Seafarers

Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Kadmos Holding GmbH, a Berlin-based fintech company that offers a digital salary payment platform for seafarers on June 12.

The acquisition is part of NYK’s efforts to expand its financial services in the global maritime industry. The value of the deal has not been made public, but the completion is expected in the coming weeks.

Founded in 2021 by MIT alumni Justus Schmueser and Sasha Makarovych, Kadmos offers a modern and secure payment solution that enables shipowners and ship management companies to pay their seafarers transparently, regardless of their location worldwide.

The company operates out of Berlin and London and currently has more than 40 enterprise clients. Its platform is designed to support fully cashless operations onboard vessels through features like virtual point-of-sale (POS) devices and peer-to-peer transfers.

Kadmos also provides non-personalized salary cards that are widely accepted, enabling shipowners to quickly implement payment systems across their fleets. The company says its pricing model is flexible, allowing shipping companies to cover transaction costs in personalised ways while complying with Maritime Labour Convention standards.

Unlike other maritime payment providers such as MarTrust, ShipMoney, and Brightwell, Kadmos positions itself as a complete end-to-end system rather than just a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.

Before this acquisition, NYK had already launched a financial services initiative called MarCoPay Inc. in 2019. Based in Manila, Philippines, MarCoPay was created to support Filipino seafarers by offering digital salary payments, loans, and insurance products.

The platform is currently the only digital payment provider in the Philippines with an electronic money issuer license from the central bank of the country, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. It works closely with shipowners and management firms that employ Filipino seafarers.

The company plans to integrate Kadmos into its existing MarCoPay platform to provide payroll solutions for seafarers of all nationalities, expanding beyond just Filipino crew members. This combined service will make it possible for shipowners and managers around the world to manage payments more efficiently while also addressing the specific needs of Filipino crews.

Kadmos co-founder Sasha Makarovych stated that the plan is to use NYK’s strong global reputation to sign clients faster and scale more quickly within the shipping industry. He also shared that Kadmos intends to go beyond payroll in the near future, by introducing cross-border B2B payments and corporate card services. The company is also exploring entry into the cruise industry and aims to provide more financial tools for both seafarers and shipping companies.

Reference: NYK Line

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