TrueLayer
London, GB Β· Founded 2016 Β· 294 employees on LinkedIn Β· 12 known investors
TrueLayer operates a Pay by Bank payment network enabling businesses to accept direct bank payments instead of card-based transactions. The platform reduces payment costs and fraud while improving conversion rates for ecommerce, travel, and other industries across Europe.
Also known as Truelayer
Founders & leadership
TrueLayer was founded in 2016 by Luca Martinetti and Francesco Simoneschi.
Investors Β· 12
Also in the syndicate Β· 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026TrueLayer operates an open banking payments platform in Europe centred on "Pay by Bank", in which consumers confirm purchases inside their own banking app rather than entering card details at checkout. The company positions this as an alternative to card rails, arguing that merchants face rising fees and limited choice, and that bank-initiated payments remove card fraud and add payee verification because merchants are vetted and onboarded by TrueLayer before joining its network.
The product line spans one-off Payments, Payouts for refunds, winnings, withdrawals and earnings, Bank on File for subscriptions, one-click and recurring payments via a linked bank account, and Credit, which combines real-time affordability data with bureau checks at checkout. Add-ons include a real-time Data API, Verification for customer checks, User Incentives (cashback, discounts and loyalty rewards), Signup+, which merges onboarding with a first verified deposit, and Verified Payouts for closed-loop withdrawals. TrueLayer emphasises that participation in its shared consumer network improves performance for merchants, citing pre-filled details and remembered preferences for repeat purchasers. The company states it is independent of major payment incumbents and is SOC and ISO 27001 certified.
Founding story
The founders wrote in 2019 that they had started TrueLayer three years earlier to build something that did not exist before and to give developers and consumers better access to their financial lives; the 2019 funding announcement was signed by Francesco and Luca.
Business model
TrueLayer supplies API-based payment and financial-data infrastructure to businesses, which integrate its Pay by Bank flows into checkout, onboarding and withdrawal journeys; core payment and payout products are supplemented by paid add-on modules such as Data, Verification, Credit, User Incentives, Signup+ and Verified Payouts.
Traction
The company reports more than 24 million consumers in the TrueLayer network, over 1 million new users added per month, $116 billion in annualised payment volume, a 90%+ conversion rate for returning customers, and roughly a 20% conversion uplift for users already in its network. Named merchant references include Topps Tiles, which launched instant bank payments online and across 300 stores in 2023, and Jaja Finance.
Latest developments
In 2025 TrueLayer published Verified Payouts and materials on the TrueLayer Network, and it was certified a Great Place To Work for November 2025-2026. In 2026 it launched Bank on File, described by the company as the next generation of one-click and recurring payments, and Pay by Bank - Credit, presented by CEO Francesco as a step towards a complete Pay by Bank payments network. The company has also published commentary on agentic payments, the UK Payment Initiation (UKPI) framework, and Pay by Bank as a replacement for iDEAL in the Netherlands.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
TrueLayer describes itself as Europe's leading open banking platform and states it handles 47% of all Pay by Bank transactions and 40% of UK Pay by Bank transactions. It has received industry recognition including Payments Innovation of the Year at the 2024 FSTech awards, Fintech Pioneer of the Year (Joe Morley) at the 2023 National Fintech Awards, Best innovation in payments at the 2019 FData awards, inclusion in the CB Insights Fintech 250 for 2020, and listings among top London tech companies.
TrueLayer stresses the network effect of a shared consumer base across merchants β remembered payment preferences, pre-filled details, one-click checkout and personalised incentives β plus independence from major incumbents, payment protection guarantees, fraud detection, merchant vetting and enterprise security certifications.
Technology
The platform is delivered as APIs that initiate bank payments and payouts, orchestrate the payment method for a given customer, link bank accounts for recurring and one-click use (variable recurring payments and sweeping), and return real-time account data for affordability, personalisation and verification. Consumers authenticate and confirm payments through their bank app, including via biometrics. The company reports SOC and ISO 27001 certification, and its engineering stack includes Rust.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales and demo requests via the website alongside self-service developer signup for API access, supported by vertical-specific content, customer case studies, an open banking newsletter with over 10,000 subscribers, events and published reports.
Merchants and businesses in ecommerce, iGaming, financial services, travel and crypto (fiat on-ramp and off-ramp), as well as developers building payment and financial-data features.
Geography
Europe-focused, with the UK as a core market and published guidance on Pay by Bank in the Netherlands as iDEAL is withdrawn; the company also references EU payments policy and Irish/EU regulatory developments.
History
Founded around 2016, TrueLayer began as a developer platform for open banking data and payments and announced a $35M Series C in 2019 to expand its platform in Europe and globally. It introduced Signup+ for customer onboarding in January 2023 and launched instant bank payments with Topps Tiles in May 2023. Its CEO published a review of 2024 financial performance and impact in September 2025, and in 2025-2026 the company expanded its Pay by Bank network with Verified Payouts, Bank on File for recurring and one-click payments, and a Pay by Bank Credit product.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources β 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 β not independently audited.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through TrueLayer went on to found or lead other companies.
Timeline Β· 11
launches, deals, and filingsTrueLayer's CEO announced Pay by Bank - Credit, combining real-time affordability data and bureau checks at checkout, as a step towards a complete Pay by Bank network.
TrueLayer launched Bank on File for one-click checkouts and recurring payments via a linked bank account.
TrueLayer published its Verified Payouts product, offering closed-loop instant withdrawals intended to reduce fraud and payout costs.
Topps Tiles adopted TrueLayer instant bank payments online and across its 300 stores.
TrueLayer introduced Signup+, combining customer onboarding with a single payment to speed up account funding.
TrueLayer announced a $35M Series C to expand its open banking developer platform, welcoming Tencent and Temasek alongside existing investors Northzone, Anthemis and Connect.
$35M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 7
primary sources listed
- TrueLayertruelayer.com Β· web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does TrueLayer do?
- TrueLayer runs a European Pay by Bank network letting merchants accept open banking bank payments instead of cards.
- Who founded TrueLayer?
- TrueLayer was founded by Luca Martinetti, Francesco Simoneschi in 2016.
- Who are TrueLayer's investors?
- TrueLayer's investors include Anthemis Venture, CNI, Connect Ventures, Graph Ventures, Insiders Ventures, Isomer Capital, Mouro Capital, Northzone and 2 more.
- Where is TrueLayer headquartered?
- TrueLayer is headquartered in London, GB.