UK FinTech Banked raises $15m in Series A; eyes US expansion

By Gloria Methri

Banked, the London-based FinTech building a global payment network has raised over $15 million in a Series A round. The investment was led by Insight Partners supported by Citi and National Australia Bank Ventures.

Banked’s recently announced commercial partner and payments firm Rapyd also joined the Series A extension round. The latest infusion of capital brings Banked’s total investment raised to date to $50 million.

An open banking firm specialising in pay-by-bank transactions, Banked is creating a global digital payments network, based on API access.

Banked highlighted its commitment to expanding in the US market by citing the previous experience of lead investor Insight Partners, as well as an ongoing partnership with Bank of America, which had also previously invested in Banked. To further pursue its American expansion, Banked opened an office in Palo Alto, California, and relocated CEO Brad Goodall from London.

“Pay by Bank is taking off globally. Leading banks recognise the significant opportunity it presents to improve the end-customer experience and merchant value proposition,” said Brad Goodall, CEO, Banked.

Banked now has close to 100 staff and is growing at a time when many FinTech rivals and the industry at large have been put under huge pressure to consolidate. This is due to increasing merchant demand and accelerated interest by banks to play a role in the expansion and commercialisation of real-time payment rails globally.

“Banked has a unique partnership model which relies on global go-to-market partners in the shape of banks, PSPs, and technology platforms. This means we have had to build real depth and capability in areas such as risk and compliance, security, consumer protection, platform scalability, and most importantly feature-rich user experiences for our partners and their clients and customers,” he added.