Volt launches account ownership authentication in European markets

By Joy Dumasia

Volt, a UK-based FinTech company powering the growth of real-time payments in the UK and Europe, is launching Verify, an ultrafast bank account authentication service for online merchants and businesses. 

Volt is launching Verify simultaneously in the UK and five key European markets: Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. The FinTech powerhouse plans further rollout of the product across additional European markets before the end of the year. Volt has +95% coverage of consumer bank accounts in these countries. The launch marks Volt’s expanded capability to cover AIS alongside PIS, which sees the payments gateway now covering the full spectrum of open banking services in Europe. 

The newly launched product automates, strengthens and simplifies how businesses across markets and sectors verify customer bank account ownership. Merchants and businesses can ensure a frictionless user experience at checkout for their customers while strengthening their fraud prevention and regulatory compliance defences. Verify enables them to access customers’ bank accounts before payment initiation securely, to confirm users’ full name, bank account number and, where available, account balance.

“Verify’s ultrafast capability eliminates the complexity of the verification process and reduces additional steps. It is a great alternative to using microtransaction/penny transaction flows (where a user is required to send 1 penny transaction), which cause delays in the verification process and user drop-off at checkout, a major source of lost revenue for merchants and companies in the digital economy. Verify enables merchants to provide a superior user experience at checkout and is a highly effective solution for businesses that require quick confirmation of identity or account number authentication”, says Aleksandra Petera, Product Owner, Verify at Volt.

Initially, Verify uses the single redirection authentication method, which makes the product immediately viable in Europe’s key markets. Future plans include supporting additional authorisation methods, which will significantly boost bank coverage. Key use cases for Verify include open-loop payments, direct debit mandates and user profiles.  

Marcus Naserek, Co-founder and CEO of German-based company Sideos, one of the first to use Volt’s Verify product, says: “Our mission at Sideos is to be the essential platform enabling enterprises to manage the digital identity of people and objects in the Web 3.0. Volt’s account authentication product Verify provides a powerhouse solution that gives people a real-time shopping experience using their verified bank account in a very convenient way.”

“With the launch of Verify, Volt now spans the entire spectrum of open banking capabilities, covering both AIS (Account Information Services) and PIS (Payment Initiation Services). Decreasing friction and preventing fraud are top of mind for companies operating in the digital economy, and Verify delivers the simplicity customers want, the security both them and merchants need, and the scale across key European markets as a blueprint for a future of real-time payments everywhere”, says Aleksandra Petera, Product Owner, Verify at Volt.