“We prefer to remain on the sidelines,” says Yapily boss amid open banking consolidation

Stefano Vaccino, the CEO of Yapily, a UK open banking startup backed by Lakestar, has stated that his company prefers to "remain on the sidelines" amid anticipated consolidation in the open banking sector. Yapily, which enables businesses to access bank data and initiate open banking payments, reported a significant improvement in its financial performance in 2025.

The company's revenue surged from £6.7m to £16.7m year-on-year, while it transitioned from a £16.2m loss to a £355,000 profit. Vaccino attributed this growth to the company's lean operations and increased revenues from existing customers, including tech giants like Revolut, Intuit, Adyen, and Google. Yapily had its last funding round in 2021, raising $51m in a Series B led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from existing investors Lakestar, HV Capital, and Latitude.

Since then, Yapily has not sought additional funding, as Vaccino aimed to demonstrate that open banking is a viable sector and that Yapily is committed to the long term. The CEO expects exciting times ahead for open banking, particularly in 2027 and 2028, when CVRPs (Commercial Variable Recurring Payments) will expand to e-commerce and FiDA (Financial Data Access) becomes law.

CVRPs allow customers to authorize businesses to withdraw recurring, variable amounts directly from their bank accounts, while FiDA extends open banking beyond payments. Yapily has been actively hiring engineers and enhancing its offerings to prepare for these changes. Despite the recent consolidation in the open banking sector, with companies like Paypoint acquiring obconnect and TrueLayer acquiring in3 and Zimpler, Vaccino prefers to stay on the sidelines for now, focusing on organic and sustainable growth.