US firm Paydiant has raised an additional US$12 million in venture backing that it will use to expand its white-label service among its target market of banks and merchants, according to Techcrunch. The investment comes from new backer Stage 1 Ventures as well as existing backers North Bridge Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners.

The firm says its white-label service, which works on iOS and Android devices, is being trialled by five of the leading fifteen banks in the US. The pilots are being run using QR codes for transactions but Paydiant says its service will work just as easily with NFC.

Its strategy is to offer banks and merchants an alternative to working with mobile operators or handset vendors by enabling them to launch their own mobile apps and hold onto customer data in the cloud rather than share it with others in the value chain.

Previously the firm raised US$7.6 million that was used to develop its platform. It does not offer a retail app of its own. Its model is entirely white label.