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Volopa partners with ClearBank for expanded SME finance services
Thu, 28th Mar 2024

Volopa, the transaction, payment, and expenses company, has announced an extensive partnership with ClearBank. ClearBank, known for its role in enabling real-time clearing and embedded banking for financial institutions, will assist Volopa in its plans to significantly enhance and expand services available to its portfolio of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.

The collaboration brings various benefits to Volopa, including supporting current banking needs but also creating potential for a broadened array of prestigious banking services to be offered to clients. Currently, Volopa's unified offering consists of global payments from the UK to 180 nations, multicurrency prepaid company cards, and simplified employee expense management. Easily integrating with client platforms, Volopa is shaping itself as a versatile financial tool for businesses to optimise performance and increase efficiency.

This partnership forms an integral part of Volopa’s application for an e-money licence. This e-money licence is anticipated to be granted later this year by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and, once secured, Volopa will be able to utilise ClearBank's technology as a springboard for providing clients access to UK payment rails. This would enable consumers to transfer funds to individuals, businesses, or other financial institutions, and create further opportunities for Volopa to accommodate multi-currency, cross-border payments and FX solutions.

This collaboration is a considerable milestone for Volopa's ongoing development and expansion. After receiving a team from American Express last year, the company's growth has surged, helped further by a partnership with leading Open Banking API provider, Yapily, earlier this year. Volopa, backed by fintech and security incubator Quantum Group, has continued to address client demands with its blooming variety of offerings.

Ali Albajati, Head of Product at Volopa, hails the partnership as a momentous game changer. He commented, "At Volopa, we aim to create innovative and bespoke solutions that directly meet the real world needs of our SME clients. Our clients like what we provide and tell us they want to do more with us, especially as global economic and supply chain challenges accelerate the need for digital solutions in UK businesses." Albajati believes that the range of products and services enabled by the partnership with ClearBank will only deepen Volopa's existing client relationships and attract new business.

ClearBank is equally excited about the mutual benefits that this partnership holds. John Salter, Chief Customer Officer at ClearBank, stated, "Our cutting-edge technology will empower them to provide seamless access to UK payment rails, along with accounts and virtual account solutions. This collaboration not only bolsters Volopa’s current banking services but also paves the way for future product expansions."