Volume, a fintech startup specialising in account-to-account payments that is transforming the online payments landscape, announced today that it has raised $6 million in a funding round led by United Ventures. Fabrick with backing from Sella Investment Banking, and existing investors Firstminute Capital, SeedX and Haatch also participated in the round, who renewed their support for the company. Having achieved product-market fit and processed an annualised gross turnover of more than $126 million in less than eight months, Volume now focuses on scaling up its UK and European operations, pursuing its mission to eliminate payment fees for both businesses and consumers.
Companies that rely on traditional payment companies such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Stripe to process payments face transaction fees that can range from 2% to 8%. These costs are often passed on to end users. Small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly affected by this problem, as large companies are able to negotiate more advantageous deals with providers such as Visa and Mastercard. Although account-to-account (A2A) payments offer the possibility of eliminating these fees, their adoption by end-users has been slow due to several difficulties, including the complexity of technical integration, consumer loyalty to card-based payment methods, and the need to guarantee essential services such as refunds and multi-currency support. Considering that debit card payments currently generate a global gross turnover of USD 17,840 billion, the growth potential for real-time payments is enormous. Currently, only $525 billion of gross business volume is processed through A2A payments, which shows significant room for growth for this type of technology.
Volume’s solution solves the challenges of online payments by offering a one-click checkout connected to all banks worldwide. This eliminates complexity and ensures an optimal user experience. Volume’s widget integrates with just five lines of code, simplifying and speeding up onboarding for platforms and businesses, including know-your-business (KYB) procedures. For end users, the payment process is intuitive and secure, solving critical issues for both platforms and consumers. This results in significant cost savings for merchants, which is also reflected by customers.
Simone Martinelli, founder and CEO of Volume, pictured with the team, says in a note: “Open banking has paved the way for reducing payment costs, but most companies offering A2A payments have failed to capitalise on this opportunity. Volume has solved this problem by focusing on the user experience, both for businesses and consumers, and offering a faster and more secure solution that puts both at the centre. Our traction proves that account-to-account payments can be a scalable and profitable business model. We have achieved product-market fit in cross-border payments and are close to profitability. Just as Stripe led the transition from cash to cards, we are leading the transition from cards to open banking payments. If adopted on a large scale, Volume could generate savings for companies of up to USD 44 billion per year.”
With Volume, platforms and users benefit from a smooth and immediate payment experience. Integration with Volume allows users to pay directly from their bank account, from any device, in less than a second. Partnering with Yapily, an open banking infrastructure provider, Volume connects to thousands of banks, enabling instant account-to-account payments (A2A). Security is ensured by biometric authentication via the user’s banking app, eliminating the need for cards, user IDs or passwords. In addition, Volume’s pricing model, based on a fixed and convenient fee, reduces costs by eliminating middlemen and simplifying payment processing, making it faster and cheaper than traditional methods.
Paolo Gesess, founder and managing partner of United Ventures, comments: ‘Volume stands out not only for the exceptional leadership of Simone and Chris, but also for the quality of the team they have built, which is rich in fintech and payments expertise. Unlike other players that have encountered obstacles, Volume, with a strong team and innovative technology, is able to scale sustainably. We see great potential in Volume to transform the way transactions are handled globally.”
Paolo Zaccardi, CEO of Fabrick, adds: ‘This investment represents a further step in our internationalisation phase and confirms our commitment to promoting innovation in financial services for businesses and consumers. The development and integration of advanced payment solutions based on the model of embedded finance allows to enrich and improve the end-customer experience. Volume shares this vision with us and is able to generate added value for merchants and end customers with its online payment solutions.
Volume strengthened its team with the arrival of important industry figures to accelerate growth. Justin Sebok, former head of product at Curve, will contribute to improving product and operations. Richard Frenken, with experience gained at PayPal where he played a key role in the $2.2 billion acquisition of iZettle, takes on the role of VP of revenue. Finally, on the compliance front, Shannon Krishna, with a background at WorldRemit and Luno, will further strengthen Volume’s regulatory capabilities.
With an established product-market fit and a top-notch management team, Volume is moving towards profitability and obtaining FCA regulation in the UK, paving the way for expansion into the European market with a new licence. The funding will allow Volume to expand its operations in the UK and Europe, and take advantage of opportunities that may arise from regulators opening up access to the NFC technology currently controlled by Apple.
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