Lightyear, founded by ex-Wise duo Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, combines multi-currency accounts with unlimited access to over 1,000 global stocks and ETFs, with no trading fees, no account fees and no FX fees up to £3,000 per month.

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.

Recognising 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 customers can now easily connect their primary bank account to the trading app for instant and secure funding using Payments Initiation. This improved process means customers can fund their account with confidence in seconds and make timely investment decisions.

Research by YouGov and TrueLayer has shown that payments directly influence investor satisfaction. More than half (57%) of current and prospective UK investors said they are more likely to trust a provider that offers instant payments. Further, around a fifth 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 improves Lightyear’s operational efficiency by removing 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.

Martin Sokk, CEO and Co-Founder of Lightyear: “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 Verticals and UK, added: “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. However, innovators such as Lightyear have recognised 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.”