Open banking platform Token has secured $15m in a Series B funding round led by SBI Investment and Sony Innovation Funding.

Existing investors Octopus Ventures, EQT Ventures and the venture arm of BNP Paribas, Opera Tech Ventures, also participated in the round.

Token said it plans to use the capital to drive the shift from traditional payment methods to account-to-account payments across Europe, by providing a fast and simple path to adoption for large merchants, PSPs and banking-as-a-service platforms.

Todd Clyde, Token CEO, said: “The market’s appetite for open payments accelerated dramatically last year as more merchants and payment providers have tuned into the cost and efficiency gains that they offer.

“Token’s payment volumes have more than doubled every month since March and our platform is now processing live transactions through PSD2 APIs from over 600 banks in 14 countries across Europe. This Series B investment reconfirms Token’s leadership in the open payments space and will ensure our platform development continues at pace.”

Token’s portfolio 

Token was founded in 2016 and became one of the first UK companies to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a payment initiation and account information service provider.

Token’s portfolio already includes open payment and data services, which power a range of corporate and consumer use-cases. The aim is to lower the cost of digital payments across Europe and delivering efficient API connectivity.

Yoshitaka Kitao, director and chairman of SBI Investment, said: “The combination of Token’s unrivalled bank connectivity and depth in payment services clearly marks the company out as a market leader.

“We believe it has continued to outperform the competition throughout the year and has a clear roadmap for development in 2021. We’re very excited to be part of Token’s mission to equip the key players in the payments market with open payments capabilities.”

Token’s customers include BNP Paribas and HSBC – HSBC recently launched a new platform enabling customers to transfer money across 20 countries in multiple currencies.