Banked, one of a number of loss-making London-based open banking payments companies, has published its accounts for the year to 31 December 2024. They show revenue beginning to arrive (albeit painfully slowly), a narrower (although still rather large) operating loss, and continuing dependence on external finance as the company pursues its global ambitions.
Revenues rose to £717k (2023: £53k) as Banked began to generate some income from its partnerships. The operating loss narrowed to £15.1m (2023: £23.5m) with employee costs cut to £11.4m (2023: £15.4m). Staff numbers fell from 117 to 86. Despite the layoffs, management stresses it has “retained its product and commercial presence across all key markets.”
2024 was, in the words of the directors, “a pivotal year in strengthening Banked’s role as a trusted, strategic partner to tier-one financial institutions.”
In the US, FIS selected Banked to provide Pay by Bank in sectors such as insurance, utilities and higher education.
In the UK, Visa announced Banked as a partner for its new Visa A2A service, intended to improve consumer protection and user experience for account-to-account payments. And in April 2025, Banked announced the acquisition of VibePay, the UK consumer payments app offering cashback and rewards. The deal, subject to FCA approval, will add a consumer-facing element to Banked’s platform and bring Candy Ventures and VibePay founder Luke Massie onto the board.
In Australia, Banked acquired Waave, a local Pay by Bank player, to broaden its technological and commercial footprint.
The company says investment in research and development remains a priority, with work continuing on “payment routing, authentication, settlement, [and] support” and exploration of “new technology models to drive sustainable product innovation.”
To date, Banked has raised around £55m from NAB, Citibank and Raypd amongst others including an additional £14m in 2024. Most of the capital has now been spent, underlining how dependent Banked remains on external finance while waiting for open banking payments to scale.
For now, Banked remains a company with modest revenues, heavy losses, and an expanding global footprint. The next test will be whether acquisitions such as Waave and VibePay, and partnerships with FIS and Visa, can deliver the volumes required to justify the continuing inflow of investor capital.
