By Allan Maurer

UPDATED ATLANTA – Moneta, a company offering online payment services that lower merchant processing costs, has raised a $4 million round of new venture backing led by Tampa, Florida-based ENG.

CEO Guido Sacchi tells TechJournal South the Series A round also included previous investors and some new ones, primarily angels.

He says the 10 person company will double its staff over time as it ramps up sales and marketing efforts.

Just this morning, the company announced that Stacks and Stacks, one of the largest Internet retailers of housewares, storage and organizational solutions, will offer Moneta’s “Pay Now” option, allowing customers to pay online from checking, savings or money market accounts in a secure, single-step process.

Moneta evolved from Checkfree, which developed the technology. Private equity investors bought the Checkfree assets and formed Moneta in 2007.

Moneta previously raised about $2 million from private and angel investors. Investors had put about $8 million in Checkfree prior to the purchase.

Despite strong competition in the online alternative payments space, Moneta offers two compelling differentiators, Sacchi told Techjournal South in a previous interview.

First, Moneta lowers the cost to merchants of accepting online payments by about 50 percent. Second, it provides a way for banks to create revenue from the alternative payments space.

That’s particularly important to Moneta, because the company partners with financial institutions to give them a brand presence at merchant checkouts online.

“It’s a real pain point for banks. They don’t see revenue flowing from alternative payments today,” Sacchi said.

“They have been pushed to the sidelines in online transactions.”

“Paypal has become a huge strategic threat for banks,” Sacchi said Monday morning. “This lets them create a branded presence in the alternative payments space and make money in the process.

Delta Airlines and Shoebuy.com among other merchants, currently offer the payment option. Sacchi says the company expects to announce several more merchants using the service in coming months.

“Right now we need to expand sales and marketing. It’s a matter of ramping up,” Sacchi says. “We’re very confident the trends in the marketplace are going in our direction.”

According to the company Web site, Moneta was a title given to two separate goddesses: the goddess of memory and an epithet of Juno, called Juno Moneta. The latter’s name is source of numerous words in English, including the word “money”.

Previously on TechJournal South:
Moneta includes banks in online payment transaction revenue

http://techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=6326

Online: www.monetacorp.com

Southeast Venture Conference, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA – Where Smart Money Meets Smart People.
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