A Fresh Take on Volt's Expansion into Romania's Payments Landscape
Volt, a real-time payments platform based in the UK, introduces support for the Romanian currency.
Hop aboard as we dive into the latest movement in the payments world! The UK-based real-time payments platform, Volt, has just cast its net farther, landing in Romania. This strategic move allows merchants in the region to effortlessly accept account-to-account payments, consolidating Romania within the growing open banking ecosystem.
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Currently, Volt's real-time, account-to-account payments network spans over 2,500 banks across 31 markets, covering the UK, the EU, Brazil, and Australia. Spotlighting the increasing demand for this service, there are over 11.4 million open banking users in the UK and 63.8 million in Europe, with an estimated 11 million users utilizing open banking services in Central and Eastern Europe. Romania, a burgeoning component of this market, takes center stage.
Nine leading Romanian banks and financial institutions are already onboard, including Alpha Bank, Banca Transilvania, BCR, CEC, Raiffeisen Bank, BRD, Unicredit, ING Bank Romania, Libra Bank, and Revolut. According to the press release, Volt serves a diverse clientele within Romania, seeing the highest adoption in sectors such as wealth tech, e-commerce, and i-gaming.
Established in 2019, Volt is one of the fastest-growing open banking and account-to-account payments scale-ups. With a whopping USD 60 million Series B funding raised in 2023, the company boasts backing from top-tier investors like IVP, CommerzVentures, EQT Ventures, Augmentum Fintech PLC, and Fuel Ventures.
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Some background on Volt in Romania
Though details on the number of users, banks involved, and major partners in Romania are scarce, Volt Finance SA, based in Bucharest, offers instant bank transfers via its mobile app "Volt – Transfer de bani instant." Being almost a household name in Romania's fintech space, Volt is recognized for its AI-powered transaction monitoring. However, it's worth noting that the Romanian fintech sector, while experiencing remarkable growth, has had its fair share of financial challenges in 2023. Though Volt is actively involved in instant payment solutions and mobile financial services, specific figures on the user base, partnering banks, or major partners have not been made public as of recent reports.
The National Bank of Romania (NBR) ensures a stable regulatory framework, enabling fintechs like Volt to operate effectively in the Romanian market. As for global integrations, while Volt is known for partnering with platforms like Shopify in various markets, specific partnerships in Romania have yet to be disclosed.
| Aspect | Details (Romania) ||---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|| Number of users | Not publicly disclosed || Banks involved | Not publicly disclosed || Major partners | Not publicly disclosed || Regulatory oversight| National Bank of Romania (NBR) || Local app/service | “Volt – Transfer de bani instant” (available for Android/iOS) || Global integrations | Shopify (in other markets, e.g., UK, EU, Australia) |
- Volt, the UK-based payments platform, has expanded into Romania, joining forces with nine leading Romanian banks and financial institutions like Alpha Bank and Raiffeisen Bank.
- Established in Bucharest, Volt Finance SA offers a mobile app, "Volt – Transfer de bani instant," for instant bank transfers, marking its presence in Romania's fintech space.
- Despite the growth in Romania's fintech sector, specific details about Volt's user base, partnering banks, and major partners in Romania are yet to be disclosed.
- The National Bank of Romania (NBR) provides a stable regulatory framework, enabling fintech companies like Volt to operate effectively in the Romanian market, but global integrations in Romania remain undisclosed at this time.
