The archive · Money & Fintech · Strategic decision · 2019–2026
Volt bets CFPB 1033 + PSD2 make pay-by-bank a card rival; $60M Series B, scaling
London open-banking network of ~5,000 banks; $60M Series B at $350M+; Shopify, Worldpay, Farfetch on board as CFPB 1033 opens the US.
Volt
What the business is
Volt is a London fintech that lets merchants accept real-time account-to-account payments: one API connects to open-banking rails at roughly 5,000 banks across the UK, Europe, Brazil and Australia, replacing card payment flows.
Starting capital：$60M Series B led by IVP (June 2023) after a $23.5M Series A (2021) and earlier seed; valuation just over $350M per TechCrunch.
How it started
Founded in London in October 2019 by Tom Greenwood, Steffen Vollert and Jordan Lawrence, Volt put its first merchants live in Nov 2020 and raised a $23.5M Series A in June 2021. The premise: open-banking APIs let merchants take payments directly from bank accounts, cutting the card fee chain and settling in real time.
What happened
In June 2023 Volt raised a $60M Series B led by IVP at a valuation just over $350M, with EQT Ventures, Augmentum and Fuel Ventures among backers; TechCrunch reported ~5,000 banks on the network, gross margins above 80% on Volt transactions, and partnerships with Shopify, Worldpay, Farfetch and eToro. It expanded into Brazil (2021) and Australia (Nov 2023), and secured licences in Poland (Aug 2023) and the UK (EMI licence, Feb 2024). As the CFPB finalized its Section 1033 personal financial data rights rule in Oct 2024 — the US's first open-banking mandate, with compliance phased from April 2026 — Volt pushed into the Americas and APAC, with Farfetch going live in Sep 2024.
How it ended up
Still operating and expanding: as of 2026 the company is live across the UK, EU, Brazil and Australia, signing new pay-by-bank partners (Mitrade July 2026, SysPay June 2026) and adding stablecoin-enabled remittance (Profee June 2026) as the US 1033 market phases in.
Background
Volt was founded in London in 2019 by Tom Greenwood, Steffen Vollert and Jordan Lawrence on a simple bet: PSD2 had forced European banks to open payment APIs, so account-to-account payments could undercut card fees and settle instantly. Instead of building for one country, Volt built a 'network of networks' — a single merchant API that routes into each market's open-banking and real-time rails.
The strategy drew serious backers: a $23.5M Series A in 2021, then a $60M Series B led by IVP in June 2023 at a valuation just over $350M. TechCrunch reported the network spanned ~5,000 banks across the UK, Europe and Brazil, with Shopify making Volt its first open-banking provider and Worldpay, Farfetch, Vestiaire Collective and eToro as partners or clients; Volt said transactions ran at gross margins above 80%.
The regulatory wind kept blowing: after expanding to Australia (Nov 2023) and securing licences in Poland and the UK, Volt watched the CFPB finalize America's first open-banking mandate — Section 1033 — in Oct 2024, with compliance phased from April 2026, and pushed into the Americas and APAC. As of Sept 2026 it remains private, live across the UK, EU, Brazil and Australia, signing new partners (Mitrade, SysPay) and expanding into stablecoin-enabled payments.
What has to be true
- Open-banking mandates (PSD2, CFPB 1033) force banks to expose data and payment rails, creating the regulatory floor Volt's entire product assumes (CFPB press release; TechCrunch).
- The economics beat cards: real-time settlement and 80%+ gross margins on transactions, versus the multi-party card fee chain (TechCrunch).
- Partnerships with Shopify and Worldpay gave Volt distribution without winning every merchant one by one (TechCrunch).
- The US 1033 rule is the scale-up moment: compliance starts April 2026 for the largest banks, exactly the market Volt's Americas push targets (CFPB; UKTN interview).
What can be applied
Regulation opens the door but merchants still need reasons to switch: Volt's edge is economics (80%+ gross margins, instant settlement) and incumbent partners like Worldpay, not the mandate itself.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02 Volt is still private and scaling: live in the UK, EU, Brazil and Australia, with recent pay-by-bank wins including Mitrade (July 2026), SysPay (June 2026) and a USDC-based remittance top-up with Profee (June 2026). Its US bet now hinges on 1033 phasing in from April 2026, turning America into the largest regulated open-banking market it serves. No IPO or exit has been announced; profitability is not public.
Sources
- Volt, an open banking fintech for payments and more, raises $60M at a $350M+ valuation
- CFPB Finalizes Personal Financial Data Rights Rule to Boost Competition, Protect Privacy, and Give Families More Choice in Financial Services
- Volt founder: Only promise what your technology can deliver
- About Volt — building the world's real-time payment network
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