Lloyds Nears £120m Acquisition of Fintech Curve

Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest high street lender, is close to acquiring digital wallet provider Curve in a deal worth around £120m, according to Sky News. An announcement could come as early as this week.

Founded in 2016 by Shachar Bialick, Curve was once hailed as one of the UK’s most promising fintechs, raising over £200m in equity and securing backing from investors including IDC Ventures and Cercano Management. Despite ambitions for a multibillion IPO, the reported sale price is below its £133m Series C valuation (2023).

The deal would strengthen Lloyds’ push into digital payments infrastructure, positioning it against Apple and Google amid regulatory scrutiny of big tech wallets. Curve’s technology consolidates multiple cards into a single digital wallet, offering features like dynamic rewards and reduced transaction fees.

Advised by KBW (Stifel), Curve is chaired by Lord Fink, a veteran investor in UK tech start-ups.