NYK has agreed a deal to acquire 100% of German firm Kadmos Holding, a Berlin-headquartered provider of end-to-end digital salary payments for seafarers.
Founded in 2021, Kadmos offers technology for salary distribution to crew members across multiple nationalities, with operations in both Germany and the UK.
The acquisition will allow NYK to integrate Kadmos with its existing maritime financial services business, MarCoPay, launched in 2019 in the Philippines. MarCoPay provides e-money, loans, and insurance services focused on Filipino seafarers and holds an electronic money issuer licence from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
By combining the capabilities of the two companies, NYK aims to create a global digital payments platform tailored to seafarers of all nationalities, while continuing to support the specific needs of the Filipino crew segment.
“Leveraging the experience and expertise of MarcoPay, which started in the Philippines, we aim to quickly expand the scope of services in collaboration with Kadmos, driving further growth in our seafarers’ e-money business,” said NYK Senior Managing Executive Officer, Nobuhiro Kashima.
“As a manifestation of our mission of ‘Bringing value to life’, we are committed to enhancing the living standards of international seafarers, who are our closest colleagues working at sea. We will prioritise safety, security, and trust in our efforts to provide a valuable e-money service platform for seafarers.”
