Curve
AcquiredFounded 2015 · 258 employees on LinkedIn · 19 known investors
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Curve Pay is a digital wallet that combines multiple bank cards into one, letting users switch which card paid for a purchase after the fact, avoid foreign exchange fees, and earn cashback on top of existing card rewards. It serves consumers across the UK and EEA for online, in-store, and international payments.
Also known as Curve Europe UAB · Curve Pay · Curve UK Limited
Founders & leadership
Curve was founded in 2015 by Shachar Bialick.
Investors · 19
Also in the syndicate · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Curve operates a digital wallet, Curve Pay, that consolidates a consumer's existing credit and debit cards into a single card and mobile app, so that spending can be routed and re-routed across underlying accounts without the customer changing banks. Purchases can be tapped in-store, online or abroad, with the wallet layering additional functionality on top of the card in the user's wallet: savings on foreign transaction fees, cashback at participating retailers stacked on the underlying card's own rewards, and instalment or balance-transfer options through Curve Flex.
The product set includes Go Back in Time, which lets a customer move a completed purchase to a different linked card up to 120 days afterwards; Smart Rules, which route payments to a chosen card automatically; Anti-Embarrassment, which falls back to a backup card when a payment is declined; Curve Protect; and support for wearables such as smart watches and payment rings, including a Huawei tie-up. The app is distributed through the Apple App Store, Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store and Huawei AppGallery, and supports Mastercard, Visa and Diners Club networks. Coverage described by the company includes the ability to pay any bill with a credit card, ATM withdrawals, and locking or unlocking all linked cards with one tap.
Curve describes itself as a financial super app aiming to be a single point of access to a range of financial products, and has been building a Launchpad interface and marketplace of financial applets intended to let selected third-party developers integrate their products into the app. In November 2025 Lloyds Banking Group agreed to acquire the company, with Curve Pay to be incorporated into the bank's digital offering.
Founding story
Curve was founded by Shachar Bialick, a serial entrepreneur who started his first company at 21, holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Law and Economics from Tel Aviv University, and serves as the company's CEO.
Business model
Curve sits as an over-the-top layer between the consumer and their existing bank cards, intercepting the transaction rather than replacing the underlying account. It issues its own e-money and cards: in the UK through Curve UK Limited, authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money issuer (FRN 900926), and in the EEA through Curve Europe UAB, licensed by the Bank of Lithuania as an electronic money institution (licence No. 73, issued 22 October 2020). The company states it transformed its business model in 2023 in a way that improved gross margin and supported scaling towards profitability.
Consumer subscription plans are offered alongside the free product, and the company markets paid tiers such as Pro cashback. Curve also earns from its transaction layer and from lending-style products including Curve Flex balance transfers and instalment plans; the company reported improving gross margin after a 2023 change to its business model.
Traction
The company's site states Curve serves more than 6 million customers and processes billions in payments annually. At the time of its 2023 Series C extension it reported more than 4.5 million customers globally and said it was on a trajectory to reach profitability in early 2024. Coverage of the 2025 Lloyds acquisition refers to 28 million customers.
Latest developments
Lloyds Banking Group announced on 19 November 2025 that it had acquired Curve, in a deal reported at £120 million; the acquisition is expected to complete in the first half of 2026 subject to regulatory approval, with Curve Pay to be folded into Lloyds' digital offering. Lloyds stated the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on the group or its 2025 and 2026 guidance. Earlier in 2025 the company raised £37 million led by Hanaco Ventures to launch Curve Pay on Android and iOS and to fund market expansion, infrastructure and customer experience work.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Curve positions itself in the emerging competition among digital wallets, arguing that most wallets only pass a card through while Curve adds functionality across all linked cards. It has been cited by its founder alongside network initiatives such as Visa Flex and Mastercard One Credential as evidence of issuers and networks entering the same space.
Unlike wallets tied to a single issuer or that simply present a stored card, Curve works across a customer's existing banks without requiring a new bank relationship, and adds retrospective card switching, cross-card FX fee avoidance, instalment conversion of past purchases, and cashback stacked on top of the underlying card's rewards. Its transaction-interception position also gives it a consolidated view of a customer's card spending.
Technology
Curve uses what its investors describe as a Layer 3, over-the-top approach that intercepts the card transaction, allowing it to apply its own logic to payments made with any linked card. This underpins features such as Go Back in Time (retrospectively re-assigning a purchase to another card for up to 120 days), Smart Rules-based card routing, automatic fallback to a backup card on decline, currency conversion without foreign transaction fees, and tokenised wallet payments including on wearables. A Launchpad interface is being rolled out to allow third-party financial products to be embedded in the app.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer distribution via mobile app stores (Apple App Store, Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery), supported by partnerships with payments and device brands including Samsung, Mastercard, Huawei and Swatch, and by retailer cashback tie-ins with merchants such as Booking.com, Sainsbury's and Netflix.
Retail consumers in the UK and the European Economic Area who hold multiple credit and debit cards, particularly those spending internationally, seeking cashback, or wanting to manage cash flow by moving purchases between cards or into instalments.
Geography
Headquartered in the United Kingdom and regulated across the UK and the EEA; as of 2023 the service was live in 31 markets across the UK and European Economic Area, with UK issuance via Curve UK Limited and EEA issuance via Curve Europe UAB in Lithuania.
History
Curve launched to the public in 2018. By September 2023 it had raised £208 million in equity investment, including a Series C that reached over £133 million after a £58 million extension. In March 2025 it raised a further £37 million led by Hanaco Ventures to fund the launch of Curve Pay and a push to profitability. In October 2025 shareholders voted down an attempt to remove chair Lord Fink and founder and CEO Shachar Bialick, and in November 2025 Lloyds Banking Group agreed to acquire the company.
Risks & controversies
The sale to Lloyds drew shareholder objections over price and governance. Curve's board told shareholders that "the value of this transaction falls short of the ambitions we all held" while arguing it was the best available path for creditors and shareholders. IDC Ventures, described as Curve's largest external shareholder with a 12% stake, said it was deeply concerned about the conduct of management and the board during the sale process, questioned the company's governance and ownership, said it did not intend to support the sale, and reserved its legal rights. An attempt to remove chair Lord Fink and CEO Shachar Bialick was voted down by shareholders in October 2025.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through Curve went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors · 7
by search overlap
Companies competing with Curve for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsLloyds Banking Group and Curve confirmed the acquisition of Curve, reported at £120 million, though the parties did not confirm the value. Completion is expected in the first half of 2026 subject to regulatory approval, and Curve Pay is to be incorporated into Lloyds' digital offering. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Lloyds or its 2025 and 2026 guidance.
Shareholders voted down an attempt to remove chair Lord Fink and founder and CEO Shachar Bialick amid unrest over the sale process. IDC Ventures, holding a 12% stake, said it was deeply concerned about the conduct of management and the board and reserved its legal rights.
Curve raised £37 million in a round led by Hanaco Ventures with participation from existing investors Fuel Ventures, IDC, Outward VC and Lord Stanley Fink, to support the launch of Curve Pay on Android and iOS, market expansion, infrastructure and a path to profitability.
Curve prepared and launched Curve Pay, a digital wallet alternative for Android and iOS that lets users tap to pay with any linked card while adding FX fee savings, cashback and card-switching features.
Curve announced an additional £58 million extension to its Series C, bringing the round total to over £133 million, with participation from Britannia, IDC Ventures, Cercano Management, Cohen Circle, Outward VC and other existing shareholders. The round was advised by Investec. Funds were earmarked for customer experience, expanding Flex offerings and new partnerships.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
Curve Monthly Recap July 2026news.curve.finance · Aug 2026▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Curvecurve.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Curve do?
- UK digital wallet that links a user's existing bank cards into one app, adding card-switching, FX savings and cashback.
- Who founded Curve?
- Curve was founded by Shachar Bialick in 2015.
- Who are Curve's investors?
- Curve's investors include Cohen Circle, Fuel Venture Capital, Hanaco Venture Capital, LifeX Ventures, Mouro Capital, Outward VC, Samsung Next, Seedcamp and 7 more.