Primer, the payments automation platform offering the infrastructure for effortless commerce experiences, today announces its new partnership with Volt, the company building the global infrastructure for real-time payments, enabling access to instant bank payments to Primer’s customers. 

The tough economic climate in the UK, driven by high inflation and a cost of living crisis, has made many businesses look at ways in which they can optimise costs. This partnership will help merchants during market downturn by offering instant bank payment options (account-to-account payments) using Volt’s open banking network. As a result, merchants will benefit from significantly reduced fees associated with traditional payment methods - as well as providing them with faster settlement. Funds will therefore be available in a merchant’s bank account more quickly, allowing them to reinvest or allocate resources as needed. 

The technical integration with Volt, which began in May, enables merchants to accept real-time account-based payments via Primer’s platform. The partnership also aims to alleviate pain points for merchants by improving online check-out and in-store payments experiences for both consumers and merchants alike using first-class open banking technology.

A key objective for Primer is to offer breadth and depth of payments services for global merchants to adapt to the ever-changing needs of consumers. Within a few clicks, merchants have the ability to add an instant payment option directly onto their checkout, enabling better choice for their customers. 

Primer’s clients will be able to integrate Volt's real-time payments network in the UK, EU, and Brazil giving them the opportunity to offer a ‘Pay by Bank’ experience to their customers, while benefiting from faster settlements, lower transaction fees and no chargebacks. 

Commenting on the partnership, Gabriel Le Roux, CEO of Primer said “The addition of Volt to Primer’s ecosystem demonstrates our ongoing commitment to global payment innovation and flexibility for our merchants. It’s clear that open banking adoption is only set to continue with recent research highlighting that 10-11% of digitally-enabled consumers and small businesses used open banking in December 2022, an increase from 9-10% in March 2022. Undoubtedly, the demand for open banking payments is growing. As the world of payments evolves, it’s essential for merchants to be able to offer a plethora of different payment options, leveraging open banking technology to give consumers as much choice as possible when it comes to making payments. Our partnership with Volt makes this possible.

Richard Drury, VP Partnerships at Volt said: “We’re thrilled that Primer has selected Volt as a provider of real-time open banking payments. Partnerships such as this enable merchants to benefit from account–to-account technology at scale, and we look forward to helping many more capitalise not just on their benefits, but the expansion opportunities that our geo coverage facilitates. Primer and Volt share a commitment to payment optimisation and innovation, and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together.