LONDON — Challenger bank 3S Money has appointed Octopus Group as its first UK PR agency after a non-competitive pitch.

The fast-growth fintech, which grew by 400% last year and has hit a £40 million valuation after its latest funding round, has briefed the agency – which was acquired by Publicis Groupe in February this year – to develop clear messaging and a programme of integrated PR, social, thought leadership and other content, alongside integrated campaigns.

3S Money, which has offices in offices in London, Dubai, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Riga, helps entrepreneurs and mid-market corporates from 190 countries to accept and manage high-value international bank payments and transfers in more than 35 currencies, opening up global trade to businesses unserved by traditional financial services.

The brand joins other financial technology scaleups including Modulr and Yapily and payments giant ACI Worldwide in Octopus Group’s fintech division.

Octopus MD Pete Hendrick told PRovoke Media: “The fintech sector is a close, heavly-networked community with lots of referrals, and 3S Money came to us off the back of another happy client. Their growth trajectory for the next three-to-five years is super-exciting. We like brands that work with us across several different services and they are really treating us like a strategic partner. This is a huge opportunity for them to build brand awareness.”

3S Money head of marketing Bianca Bass added: “3S Money has appointed Octopus Group at a hugely exciting time for the business. We achieved profitability in Q4 2020, grew 400% in the past year and are now focused on bringing our Global Business Account to a broader number of corporate clients. With Octopus Group’s focus on helping B2B brands not only achieve coverage but sales, they felt like the perfect partner for us as we become a scaleup.”