National Australia Bank (NAB) has acquired 100% of UK‑founded fintech platform Banked in a move aimed at accelerating Pay by Bank and real‑time payments for business customers. NAB declined to comment on the purchase price.
Banked operates a technology platform that lets customers pay merchants directly from their bank accounts via a digital checkout, removing cards from the payment flow. NAB has been an investor in the company through its ventures arm and has offered Banked’s Pay by Bank solution to Australian businesses since 2024.
NAB group executive for transformation Shane Conway (pictured) said the transaction reflects a structural shift in how Australians pay.
“Pay by Bank is part of a broader shift in Australia’s payments landscape toward real-time, account-to-account options that sit alongside cards and digital wallets,” Conway said in a media release.
The bank says the Banked deal forms part of a broader push to modernise its payments infrastructure and respond to rising demand for fast, data‑rich digital transactions.
NAB plans to combine Banked’s product and engineering teams with its own payments capabilities to streamline the experience for merchants, from the point of sale through to reconciliation and settlement.
The account‑to‑account model is positioned as a cheaper and quicker option for customers, while enabling merchants to receive funds directly from bank accounts.
“Importantly, Banked can offer a faster and lower-cost way for merchants to get paid and offers a smooth checkout experience, a win-win for everyone,” Conway said.
Banked chief executive and co‑founder Brad Goodall said the deal would underpin the next stage of growth for the platform.
“The Banked team have worked hard to build a globally proven payments platform focused on the modern demands of developers and merchants of all sizes and scale,” Goodall said.
In the near term, Banked’s operations will continue as wholly owned subsidiaries of NAB, with its technology to be integrated into the bank’s systems over time. NAB says the acquisition aligns with its strategy to expand account‑to‑account capabilities and instant payment options for business clients, positioning the group for longer‑term growth in a key part of the Australian payments landscape.
Alongside investing in new payment platforms, NAB has also reshaped how it accounts for technology spend, cutting the useful life of capitalised software, tightening what can be capitalised and lifting the threshold from $5 million to $20 million, which will drive a one‑off $1,347 million pre‑tax amortisation charge in 1H26 without changing its CET1 ratio.
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