NAB bought Pay-by-Bank startup Banked, which will now exit the UK and US

A London-founded fintech building account-to-account (Pay by Bank) online payment technology for developers and merchants.

Over $50M raised across funding rounds before the acquisition

Founded in London in 2018 by Brad Goodall, Banked built technology letting users pay online from their bank accounts rather than credit or debit cards — the model NAB executive Shane Conway calls part of Australia's shift toward real-time, account-to-account options alongside cards and wallets.

Banked raised over $50M from Bank of America, Insight Partners and Citi, while NAB invested via its venture arm and became a customer. Earlier in 2026, Tech.eu reported that Banked's proposed acquisition of UK fintech VibePay had collapsed over due-diligence issues, despite a press release announcing the deal the year before.

Acquired by National Australia Bank for an undisclosed sum. Sources told Tech.eu that Banked will exit the UK and US markets and focus on Australia under NAB's ownership.

Owning the Pay-by-Bank stack gave NAB the real-time payment capability its customers already expected.

For Banked, a customer-acquirer meant guaranteed distribution in the one market where the model had product-market fit.

Concentrating on Australia abandoned two harder open-banking markets with the parent's blessing.

The failed VibePay deal showed standalone UK expansion was stalling, making a exit-acquisition the clean option.

Selling to your biggest customer can be the fastest exit — and it can also mean following that customer's map rather than your own.

As of the 14 May 2026 announcement, the acquisition price was undisclosed and Banked was set to wind down its UK and US presence to concentrate on Australia within NAB.