UK-based real-time payments platform Volt adds Romanian currency

UK-based real-time payments platform Volt has expanded its European coverage by introducing payments in Romania's local currency, the leu (RON). The move enables merchants in the region to accept account-to-account payments seamlessly, further integrating Romania into the growing open banking ecosystem.

Volt currently covers bank accounts at over 2,500 banks in 31 markets, enabling real-time, account-to-account domestic and cross-border payments across the UK, the EU, Brazil, and Australia.

There are 11.4 million users of open banking in the UK and 63.8 million in Europe; it's estimated that 11 million users are currently using open banking services in Central and Eastern Europe, with Romania being a significant part of that market, the company said.

Nine major banks and financial institutions currently ensure open banking connectivity in Romania, namely Alpha Bank, Banca Transilvania, BCR, CEC, Raiffeisen Bank, BRD, Unicredit, ING Bank Romania, Libra Bank, and Revolut.

"Partnering with major payment service providers (PSPs) such as Worldline, Worldpay, or Pay.com, as well as directly with merchants, Volt serves a variety of clients in Romania, with the highest adoption in sectors like wealth tech (trading platforms and crypto exchanges), e-commerce and i-gaming," reads the press release.

Founded in 2019, Volt is one of the fastest-growing open banking and account-to-account payments scale-ups. With a USD 60 million Series B funding raise in 2023, the company is backed by prominent investors IVP (a Silicon Valley-based firm that has a 40+ year track record backing companies like Coinbase, Slack, and Supercell), CommerzVentures, EQT Ventures, Augmentum Fintech PLC, and Fuel Ventures.

(Photo source: Ungureanu Vadim/Dreamstime.com)