Episode Summary:

In this episode of the Fintechfun podcast series, Chris Titley hosts Jordan Lawrence, co-founder of Volt, to discuss the revolutionary platform that is poised to streamline real-time account-to-account payments across the globe. Jordan shares the origins of Volt, its mission, and the impact it has in various international markets.

Volt’s inception coincided with the advent of open banking in Europe, tackling the challenge of integrating diverse payment methods under one umbrella. Jordan Lawrence exemplifies this by detailing Volt's progress in Brazil with the payment method PiCs, which has significantly sped up transaction times for merchants. Moreover, Lawrence provides insight into the nuances of payment adoption in Australia, highlighting the hurdles and potential for merchant-driven push towards real-time payments.

Key themes in this conversation revolve around the influence of worldwide monetary systems, the emergence of innovative payment solutions, and Volt's ambitious plans for expansion. Lawrence expertly weaves through the intricacies of financial transactions, merchant benefits, consumer transparency, and Volt's visions for the future—including the potential issuance of local bank accounts across 50 countries.

Key Takeaways:

• Volt has pioneered the integration of real-time, account-to-account payment methods internationally, beginning in Europe and expanding to Brazil and beyond.
• Merchants significantly benefit from immediate transaction completion and reduced fees compared to traditional card schemes.
• Consumer adoption in Australia remains slow, yet increasing due to merchant incentives and changing behaviours, particularly among younger demographics.
• Volt's expansion is set to reach around 50 countries, potentially offering the issuance of local bank accounts to facilitate international payments for merchants.
• Jordan provides personal insights on his global living experiences and shared travel tips, including the importance of booking seats in advance and managing jet lag.

Notable Quotes:

• “Our first foray outside of Europe was Brazil. We have an office in Sao Paulo. We process pics down there. PiCs is the equivalent of your guys kind of Pay ID and it's gone really, really well.”
• “So merchants in Australia who've got international ambitions can plug into us, use the MPP products, but also we can act as merchant record in the other countries and actually process these account to account payments for them there as well.”
• “Repeat customers at the checkout using vault is around 36%. So that means 36% of people who use vault once will use it again, which is, I think, a really good sign.”
• “I think for the merchants side, they love it. From the consumer side, there's a way to go on the UX from the banking side of things.”
• “By then we'll be in around 50 countries... The ability for Volt to be able to issue accounts locally to merchants and psps, collect the funds locally and start remitting the money around the world as well.”

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