Checkout.com has been making its case in the US this fall. The way its own people tell it: London headquartered, in the US for six years, and having "just recently launched a merchant acquiring limited purpose bank. We're expanding our team across the country."
Two of the investors who paid the most for that company are not part of that story. Qatar Investment Authority and GIC both invested in Checkout's $1 billion Series D in January 2022, at a $40 billion valuation. That was the peak of fintech pricing, and Checkout was one of the most expensive private fintechs in Europe.
Checkout now puts its own valuation at $12 billion.
Checkout cut its internal valuation to $12 billion in September 2025 and repeated the figure when it released financials this September. On the headline number, that is 70% below where QIA and GIC came in.
The headline number is not the whole story. Late-stage investors usually hold preferred shares that rank ahead of ordinary shareholders and sometimes carry protections against a falling price. Checkout's terms are not public, so what QIA and GIC would recover in a sale or listing can't be known from outside. A 70% fall in the company's own valuation is still a 70% fall.
GIC has a cushion QIA does not. It backed the $230 million Series A in 2019, at a fraction of the 2022 price, so its average cost is far lower.
The business has recovered
The company those funds own is in better shape than its valuation suggests. In its September release, Checkout reported:
- $750 million of annualized net revenue, up 28% year on year
- About $150 million of adjusted EBITDA expected for 2026
- $480 billion of payment volume expected for 2026
- 56 countries and 10 acquiring licenses
The US is its fastest-growing region. US processing volume is up more than 120% this year, and the US is now a fifth of all volume, up from 15% a year earlier. The new US bank charter lets Checkout acquire card payments directly instead of relying on a sponsor bank.
A profitable company growing this fast in the US, valued at sixteen times annualized net revenue, is not priced like a 2022 fintech anymore.
Who Checkout.com is hiring
Checkout's workforce grew steadily from March through September and started flattening in October.