‘Big Four’ Australian bank NAB has acquired UK fintech Banked, a global technology platform provider that helps customers and businesses make and receive payments instantly through a market-leading digital checkout experience.
The acquisition strengthens NAB’s innovative payments capability and aligns with its strategy to help more businesses receive payments faster and at a lower cost.
The platform uses “account-to-account payments” technology which can be cheaper and faster for customers and helps merchants receive funds directly from a customer’s bank account, bypassing the need to use a credit or debit card.
NAB has been a long-term partner and investor in Banked via its venture capital fund, NAB Ventures, and has utilised Banked’s technology since 2024 for its business customers.
NAB Group Executive, Transformation, Shane Conway said combining Banked’s product and engineering capability with NAB’s scale and existing payments infrastructure would support a simpler, more efficient digital payments experience for more of its merchants from checkout through to reconciliation and settlement.
“Pay by Bank is part of a broader shift in Australia’s payments landscape toward real‑time, account‑to‑account options that sit alongside cards and digital wallets. Customers expect making payments to be fast, easy and reliable, and Banked helps us deliver that,” Conway said.
“Bringing Banked into NAB will continue to make it easier for customers to connect with us and manage payments, reconciliation and settlement in one place.
“Importantly, Banked can offer a faster and lower‑cost way for merchants to get paid and offers a smooth checkout experience, a win-win for everyone. We are proud to provide more support to Australian businesses.”
Banked Co-Founder and CEO Brad Goodall, said the acquisition will help the platform scale and grow in the NAB environment.
“The Banked team have worked hard to build a globally proven payments platform focused on the modern demands of developers and merchants of all sizes and scale. Having the backing of NAB will allow the platform to reach more customers,” Goodall said.
The acquisition aligns with NAB’s strategy to accelerate account‑to‑account and real‑time payments capabilities for business customers, positioning the bank for long-term growth in a critical part of the economy.