Volt is a client of Third Hemisphere, a Sydney Australia public relations firm
Sydney, 6 Sept 2021: Australia’s first neobank Volt has partnered with digital currency exchange BTC Markets (BTCM) to provide BTCM and its customers with even greater speed, stability, and confidence when investing in digital assets, facilitated by Volt’s banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform.
The partnership will provide integrated banking capabilities to BTCM, initially via access to a corporate cash management account with real-time notifications and payment automation.
In the coming months, BTCM will invite its customers to open Volt bank accounts, allowing customers an improved, real-time trading experience with greater security.
As a result, instead of depositing into BTCM trust accounts, BTCM customers will use their own Volt accounts embedded within the BTCM environment. The total of all deposits in Volt accounts are covered by protection of up to a maximum of $250,000 per account holder under the Financial Claims Scheme.
It is the first partnership of its kind in Australia between a bank and a digital currency exchange, and follows a recent Senate inquiry in which traditional Australian banks were accused of “de-banking” cryptocurrency operators by denying them core banking services.
Volt believes the partnership demonstrates how BaaS can provide much-needed innovation and access to banking solutions for fintechs and their customers, and improve competition in Australian banking.
Volt and BTC Markets Forge Partnership for Fintech Innovation
Andrew Clouston, Volt Chief Customer & Partnerships Officer, said: “We are excited to team up with another homegrown Australian fintech pioneer. BTC Markets was one of the first and remains one of the largest and most trusted digital currency exchanges in Australia. This partnership will enable BTCM to stay at the forefront of a rapidly-growing industry.
“We’ve been particularly interested to see digital currencies grow in popularity, credibility, and security over the past few years. We believe BTC Markets and Volt are primed to deliver safe and secure banking access to support Australians seeking to trade in digital assets.
“As Volt continues to scale with BaaS partners such as Railspay, AFG, Australian Mortgage, and QPay, we’re seeing rapidly-growing demand for scalable banking solutions that can be delivered seamlessly within the ecosystem of fintechs. Businesses are increasingly seeking to deepen the relationship with their customers, and remove friction in processing payments.
“Innovative partnerships like this one with BTCM are further testament to the way neobanks like Volt will lead the future of Australian banking, providing integrated financial services and better outcomes for Aussie consumers.”
“Increased speed will result from our customers gaining almost instant access to Australian dollars for trades through native and integrated banking solutions such as bank accounts. Greater stability will arise out of this first-of-its-kind relationship between a bank and a crypto exchange in Australia.
“Both of these factors will generate customer confidence that their funds are in place and available, and that they will be able to time the market far more easily – which is absolutely critical in such a dynamic industry as crypto.
“This partnership demonstrates that we are progressing in the right direction of a financially inclusive future where crypto sits alongside mainstream finance.”
Thirteen per cent of Australians own cryptocurrencies according to February 2021 BTCM research, with over a third of those first investing after the stock market crash of March 2020.
BTCM underwent a stringent accreditation process with Volt, on top of already being AUSTRAC and ISO 27001 accredited. BTCM is in the process of acquiring an Australian Financial Services Licence from ASIC and is undergoing SOC 2 certification, reflecting its ongoing commitment to industry-leading risk and compliance standards
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Note: Please contact Erika Streegan for any interview requests: 0401 788 399.
About Volt
Volt is Australia’s first neobank, which obtained an unrestricted Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution (ADI) licence in 2019. Volt employs a highly differentiated banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform strategy, which enables Volt’s partners to radically improve their user experience by offering embedded bank account and payments services.
Volt is currently the only independently owned retail neobank with an unrestricted ADI licence in Australia. It is chaired by Graham Bradley AM, the former Chair of HSBC Australia and one of the most experienced and respected ASX directors in the region.
The total of all deposits with Volt, up to a maximum of $250,000 per account holder, are covered by the Australian Government’s Financial Claims Scheme.
About BTC Markets
BTC Markets is a digital asset exchange trusted by over 325,000 Australian clients, who have traded over AU$17.1 billion. Our mission is to offer a sophisticated, intuitive, and reliable trading platform to the investor community. Founded in 2013 on values of reliability and integrity, the exchange is a pioneering figure in Australia’s blockchain sector. More information is available at btcmarkets.net.
