Lightyear and LHV partner to power instant EUR payments

By Gloria Methri

Banking services provider LHV is partnering with European investment platform Lightyear, to power real-time EURO payments.

Founded by two former Wise employees Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, Lightyear aims to bring seamless, low-cost access to global markets to everyone in Europe.

With the help of banking services provider LHV, which processes 8% of the total Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) instant transactions in Europe, Lightyear can give customers access to real-time Euro payments and other banking services.

The scheme processes payments in seconds, at any time of the day. By offering a wide selection of banking services, LHV aims to be a one-stop shop for
FinTech customers’ banking needs.

“LHV is partnering with FinTechs to innovate and build a better financial system for customers in Estonia and now across Europe,” said Mihkel Aamer, Co-founder, and CTO at Lightyear. “We share a similar approach to providing best-in-class customer experience — when it comes to payments and people’s money, it’s key to eliminate unnecessary delays and slow processing times. We’re excited to join forces with LHV to bring real-time EUR payments to investors across Europe.”

In addition to SEPA and SEPA Instant payments, LHV will offer Lightyear stock trading app safeguarding accounts, which separates the client’s funds from the company’s. It will also provide EU operational accounts, designed to hold businesses’ operating funds, international SWIFT, and payments in EEA currencies alongside virtual IBANs.

Andres Kitter, CEO of LHV UK, said, “Lightyear is democratising access investing to retail traders. By utilising Lightyear’s commission-free investment platform, investors can bypass the traditional banks and web platforms, which charge high fees for stock trading.”