Volt, the global real-time payments platform, today announces its partnership with embedded sustainability fintech, ekko. The collaboration enables consumers and retailers to support the removal of plastic bottles from the ocean at checkout, which are then tracked in real-time to measure the environmental impact of payments.
When choosing a payment method at the checkout, consumers can remove a plastic bottle from the ocean when paying with Volt, before seeing a real-time counter for how many bottles have been removed so far. The counter increases once a payment is completed, highlighting the real-time impact of their payment and helping merchants to make tangible progress on their sustainability strategy.
This collaboration means ekko will benefit from joining Volt’s global real-time payments network, plugging into payments being initiated across the UK, Europe, Brazil and Australia. It solidifies ekko’s position as the leading embedded sustainability provider for the world’s biggest businesses, banks, retailers and employers.
Fresh from its recent Australian expansion, the partnership marks another significant step in Volt’s growth journey, which saw the company raise $60m in its Series B funding round in June, joining Primer, Shopify and Worldpay as companies partnering with Volt in 2023.
Collaborating with ekko shows Volt’s commitment to making a positive impact and simplifying environmental support for others, by helping retailers seamlessly integrate sustainability into their checkouts, and ensuring initiatives are delivered thanks to ekko’s measurement capabilities.
Commenting on the news, Jordan Lawrence, chief growth officer and co-founder of Volt, said: “I am incredibly excited by what this partnership will bring. The environment is very close to my and Volt’s heart, and solutions like ekko’s help to make the real difference that we believe our sector should strive to do. Combining real-time payments with real-time environmental capabilities is the perfect marriage; I’m thrilled for Volt users to gain an accurate representation of the difference they’re making to the planet.”
Oli Cook, CEO and co-founder of ekko, added: “We have an incredible role to play in fighting the climate crisis, as financial services impact nearly everything we do. We have an opportunity to mobilise people and businesses from every walk of life to do good and to make environmentally friendly choices. Working with Volt allows us to expand the horizons of our offering, reaching customers across the world and ultimately increasing support for environmental causes by bringing our real-time tracking capabilities to payments worldwide.
