Lloyd’s Banking Group is close to completing a £120m acquisition of digital wallet fintech Curve, according to sources close to the matter.
On September 7, Sky News revealed the acquisition could be announced as early as this week, though any formal confirmation may not come until later this month.
The two sides are understood to have agreed terms at £120m following talks which began in July 2025 when Curve was valued in the £100m-£120m range.
Lloyd’s is said to view Curve as a “strategic acquisition target” to strengthen its online payment offerings. Curve’s platform allows customers to consolidate payment cards into a single digital wallet for both online and in-store use.
Curve undervalued?
The £120m price tag marks a slight drop from Curve’s most recent valuation of £133m, set during its 2023 Series C funding round, which raised £58m from investors including Cercano Management – the venture company of Microsoft Co-Founder Paul G. Allen – IDC Ventures, Britannia, and Cohen Circle, amongst others.
The valuation has steadily decreased from pre-pandemic highs. Curve’s 2019 funding round bought in $55m (£40m) and valued the company at $250m (£185m).
Two years later, it raised a further $110m, including a $95m Series C round led by IDC Ventures and Fuel Venture Capital, alongside $13.6m from more than 11,000 separate investors on Crowdcube.
In 2020, Curve signalled plans for a US expansion by opening an office in New York. However, in 2024, the company halted plans and placed a greater emphasis on expansion in the UK and Europe.
The UK is Curve’s primary market with £16m of its 2024 revenue generated. Europe accounted for £10.2m of its revenue, whilst the rest of the world generated £452,000.
Added value to Lloyds’ digital payments?
The potential integration of Curve’s digital wallet infrastructure could enable Lloyd’s to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors as digital wallets continue to soar in adoption and usage in the UK.
According to Finder, 40% of all online transactions in the UK were made via digital wallets. Furthermore, the report found 45% of Brits leave the house with only their phone to be used as a payment method.
With Apple Pay being the most popular digital wallet amongst Brits, Lloyd’s will seek to utilise the Curve Card as part of its digital payment offerings to offer an alternative to Apple.
The Curve Card offers benefits such as housing multiple digital, physical and virtual cards into one singular platform. The card also offers competitive FX rates, cashback at selected retailers and a ‘Go back in time’ feature which enables users to switch a transaction’s payment card 120 days later after purchase.
