“Can a tech-forward escrow and verified payments platform become the standard legal payments infrastructure for law firms and professional services handling complex, high-value multi-party transactions?”
Founded in 2016 as part of fintech group SPG, Shieldpay set out to modernise the traditional escrow and secure payments process for parties who don't know each other. The platform grew from consumer/marketplace escrow into a dedicated legal payments infrastructure business, serving UK law firms with KYC/AML-verified payment workflows for M&A transactions, litigation settlements, and complex multi-party distributions. By 2021 the group had also launched Paycast targeting e-commerce and marketplace verticals. Shieldpay now positions itself as the UK's leading legal payments platform, having processed £18bn+ for 40+ of the UK's top 100 law firms, with cross-border paying agent capability across 86+ jurisdictions.
Shieldpay processes payments through Shieldpay Payment Account Service (self-operated).
Shieldpay uses Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Shieldpay's stack: Payments / PSP (Shieldpay Payment Account Service (self-operated)); FX & payouts (Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS)).
Shieldpay is founded in 2016 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom (principal); Altrincham, Cheshire (registered).
Shieldpay has raised $34M+ in total (latest round: Series A, December 2021).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Shieldpay and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.