Launch of Verv international bank accounts readies Novatti for EU expansion

Digital payments company Novatti Group (ASX: NOV) has strengthened its capabilities in Europe with the launch of Verv, a new business payments and banking service in that market. 

Using Verv, customers in Europe (business and personal) are able to open a digital bank account with its own unique IBAN – International Bank Account Number – for standardised banking services worldwide. This is the international equivalent of Australia’s BSB system, but on a standardised global scale. 

Once an account has been set up on Verv, European-based customers will be able to send and receive money, make payment requests, schedule recurring payments and withdraw funds from ATMs. The suite of business account services is even greater with invoicing analytics and payroll functionality. 

Critically, all of these services will be Apple, Google and Samsung mobile-friendly for ease of payments in the tech-savvy region courtesy of existing Novatti partnerships. 

“Continuing on our strength of enabling businesses to pay and be paid, Verv will offer an innovative suite of payment solutions, including merchant accounts, money transfers, expense management, and the ability to accept customer payments through customisable checkout pages,” said Novatti Managing Director, Peter Cook. 

“Providing all these services in the one place will save businesses the hassle of dealing with multiple providers for different solutions, while also getting access to Novatti’s world-leading technology.

“The launch of Verv is part of Novatti’s continued expansion in the EU. This is furthered by our application to obtain our licence as an E-Money Institution in Europe, which will enable Novatti to issue a range of financial products in that huge market.”

Having already been operating in Europe for several years, Novatti views Verv as a value-add service to their hundreds of EU-based merchants while it will also drive new customers into their ecosystem. 

Revenue generated directly from Verv will be dependent on take-up but it will also act as a gateway to other digital payment services offered by Novatti in Europe where they are awaiting the granting of an EU e-money licence. 

This mirrors their situation in Australia where regulators only just resumed issuing banking licences in July 2021 after a COVID-forced hiatus shortly after Novatti submitted their application in 2019, just before the onset of a global pandemic.

Upon the granting of their banking licence, which Novatti is hoping to secure within the coming months, their banking business will also be able to provide value-add services to their existing customers. 

In its latest global payments report released this month, research firm McKinsey is forecasting global payments revenue to increase 30% between 2021 and 2025. The report also notes that around two-thirds of the decrease in cash usage following COVID-19 will be permanent.