TrueLayer, the international Open Banking platform, has announced a new collaboration with investment platform Lightyear in order to provide instant account funding via Open Banking payments.
Lightyear, established by ex-Wise professionals Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, combines multi-currency accounts with unlimited access to 1,000+ international stocks and (exchange-traded-funds) ETFs, without any trading fees, and no account / FX fees “up to £3,000 per month.”
As noted in an update shared with CI:
“As consumer interest in trading and investing platforms continues to grow, so does the expectation of a frictionless experience. Thanks to open banking, payments now present an opportunity for new trading and investment firms to differentiate and drive customer loyalty.”
The update also mentioned:
“Recognizing this, and with its drive to create a highly customer-centric investment platform, Lightyear has implemented instant account-to-account payments using TrueLayer’s Open Banking platform.”
Lightyear’s clients are now able to seamlessly connect their primary bank account to the trading app for instant and secure funding with Payments Initiation. This improved process “means customers can fund their account with confidence in seconds and make timely investment decisions,” the announcement explained.
Research by YouGov and TrueLayer has shown that payments can influence investor satisfaction. Over half or 57% of current and prospective UK investors “said they are more likely to trust a provider that offers instant payments.”
As noted in the update, about a fifth or 20% of these investors have “missed out on an investment opportunity because funds didn’t appear in their accounts quickly enough, causing them to miss trading cycles.”
The TrueLayer collaboration also aims to enhance Lightyear’s operational efficiency by eliminating costly transaction fees “associated with cards and other payment methods such as PayPal.” Higher payment acceptance and instant settlement also “means less time spent managing failed payments that can ultimately lead to customer churn,” the update noted.
Martin Sokk, CEO and Co-Founder of Lightyear, stated:
“Our goal is to make investing easy and approachable for everyone in Europe. A big part of that means removing all the traditional pain points that create a clunky customer journey. Collaborating with TrueLayer to offer seamless, instant payments improves our customer experience two-fold. Our partnership will allow our customers to invest with confidence and we’re excited to be working with them.”
Jamie Morton, VP Vertical and UK, remarked:
“As more consumers look to build portfolios, they are faced with numerous issues, including slow and inefficient payments that affect how much and how often they can deposit funds to invest and, ultimately, their satisfaction with a platform.”
Morton added:
“However, innovators such as Lightyear have recognized that offering instant deposits creates an opportunity to develop a deeper and more positive relationship with their customers. It is creating clear water between itself and competitors with a compelling customer experience using open banking payments with TrueLayer. We look forward to building on our collaboration in the coming months as the Lightyear platform continues on its journey to build a single, pan-European platform based on the principles of transparency and fairness.”
As previously reported, TrueLayer is an international Open Banking Fintech that makes it “easy for anyone to build better financial experiences.”
Companies use TrueLayer to support their payments, access financial data, and onboard customers across the UK, Europe and Australia. Established in 2016, TrueLayer is “trusted by millions of consumers and businesses around the world.” Their vision is to “create a financial system that works for everyone.”
As covered, Lightyear is an “approachable way to invest your money globally without unnecessary barriers or fees.” Launched in October 2020, Lightyear maintains business offices in London, UK and Tallinn, Estonia.
The firm has secured $10 million in capital to date and is reportedly backed by Mosaic Ventures, Taavet Hinrikus, the co-founder of Wise and Sten Tamkivi, founder of Teleport and Metaplanet. Other investors include early Monzo backer and HM Treasury Special Envoy for Fintech Eileen Burbidge MBE, Robinhood UK’s Wander Rutgers, Ott Kaukver of Checkout.com and Kaarel Kotkas, the founder of Veriff.