Global digital product consultancy, hedgehog lab, has added another name to its growing roster of innovation partners after joining forces with digital payments disruptor Judopay.

The agreement, which sees the London-based m-commerce business join the likes of AkzoNobel, Home Group and Northumbrian Water as a hedgehog lab innovation partner, will support Judopay’s customers in exploring and implementing payments innovations as part of their business offerings.

Founded in 2012, Judopay has forged a reputation as one of Europe’s leading payment service providers for mobile, pioneering the next-generation of mobile payments and working with brands to implement mobile payment solutions in their apps.

Judopay works with some of Europe’s most disruptive up and coming brands, including employee benefits platform Perkbox, property management company Rentify and car parking app JustPark, alongside major high street names including KFC and Caffè Nero.

All their customers will now have the chance to benefit from the design and innovation expertise of hedgehog lab’s industry-leading team of product designers, engineers and UX interaction experts.

Jeremy Nicholds, CEO of Judopay said: “Judopay is changing the way people pay. As consumers, we’re all making more decisions on the move, buying, ordering and transacting on the go. This change in tempo is enabled by a safe and simple mobile experience, created by the innovators and frontrunners of any sector. 

“Judopay looks to support these innovators in their mobile experience, and partnering with exceptional brands like hedgehog labs allows us to do just that. We’re excited for the opportunities this partnership brings, and the sectors we can disrupt together.”

Mobile ecommerce is set to go from strength-to-strength in the coming years with mobile spend set to account for nearly 73% of all ecommerce spending by 20211 according to eMarketer Retail.

With such a significant proportion of retail ecommerce spend set to take place on mobile, streamlining the checkout experience and supporting as many payment options as possible will be vital for retailers and brands looking to battle checkout abandonment and drive customer loyalty.

For hedgehog lab, the agreement marks another FinTech partnership after the consultancy recently entered into another partnership with one of the UK’s biggest banks. The team has previously developed the popular consumer-facing app for UK retailer B&M and has significant in-house experience working with the latest payments innovations.

Georgia Lambert, hedgehog lab’s Retail and Consumer Strategy Lead, said: “Mobile payments are no longer just a ‘nice to have’ for UK consumers. Uptake in recent years has significantly ramped up and consumers have now come to expect a mobile customer journey, from browsing to basket to checkout, that’s just as smooth as the in-store and desktop experience.

“For brands, this puts significant pressure on them to maintain their high standards of customer experience for their payments provision, but this can be difficult with the dizzying array of payment types and new payment methods coming to market all the time.

“Our latest innovation partnership with Judopay will see us working with some great brands to explore ways that payments innovation can be implemented into their business and the transformative effect it can have on everything from checkout abandonment to customer loyalty and retention.”