Clear Junction and Lorum both serve regulated financial institutions that need to hold funds and process payments on behalf of their customers. Both offer API-driven account services and access to local payment rails. Both position themselves as alternatives to legacy banking infrastructure for PSPs, EMIs, and fintech platforms. The differences are in the regulatory model, the account architecture, the geographic scope, and whether the provider's infrastructure extends into digital assets.
This comparison covers the structural differences between the two providers. It is not a ranking. Clear Junction and Lorum serve overlapping but distinct segments, and the right choice depends on the platform's regulatory requirements, geographic footprint, currency needs, and whether digital asset capabilities are part of the infrastructure requirement.
What Clear Junction provides
Clear Junction is a global payments solutions provider founded in 2016 and headquartered in London. Clear Junction Limited is authorised by the FCA as an Electronic Money Institution (FRN: 900684). The group includes Clear Junction Digital Limited, an FCA-registered crypto-asset business, CJ Digital EU B.V., registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), and Clear Junction Canada Limited, an MSB registered with FINTRAC. The company reports serving over 400 clients across five continents.
Clear Junction's product set centres on correspondent accounts, collection accounts, virtual IBANs (vIBANs), FX, e-money accounts, and escrow services. The primary payment rails are GBP (Faster Payments, BACS, CHAPS) and EUR (SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant). The company holds its own BIC for interbank clearing and has recently launched multi-currency SWIFT services for remittance payouts across Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA. Named vIBANs are issued as unique reference codes linked to a customer's account, enabling traceability and reconciliation without creating a separate payment account. These have been extended to VASP-licensed businesses as well as banks and EMIs.
Clear Junction has invested significantly in digital asset infrastructure. The on-chain stablecoin transfer service supports USDC and USDT across Ethereum, Solana, and Tron networks. A stablecoin pay-in service allows clients to accept stablecoin funding, which Clear Junction converts and credits in fiat. This dual licensing as both an EMI and crypto-asset service provider under the FCA is a distinctive feature. Key partnerships include Flutterwave, Monobank, and Finery Markets. The client base skews toward PSPs, remittance providers, crypto exchanges, and EMIs operating primarily in UK and European markets.
What Lorum provides
Lorum is a globally licensed specialist correspondent institution holding six regulatory licences across multiple jurisdictions. The infrastructure is focused on three functions: multi-currency clearing across 30+ markets, named custody accounts, and cash management including wholesale FX. Lorum does not operate a lending book and holds all client funds in 100% reserve.
The account model is structurally different from virtual IBANs. Lorum provisions named accounts in the end customer's name, each with its own KYC profile and direct contractual link to the custodian. This means the custodian (Lorum) knows who the end customer is at the point of clearing, rather than seeing only the platform as the account holder. The model supports safeguarding, operational, escrow, and stablecoin wallet account types.
Lorum's clearing connectivity spans USD (Fedwire, ACH), EUR (SEPA, SEPA Instant), GBP (Faster Payments, CHAPS), AED (IPP, FTS), and additional currencies through direct access to local payment rails. The platform serves payroll and EOR platforms, fintech and PSPs, trading and investment platforms, and marketplaces. The geographic focus spans Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.
A structural comparison
The table below outlines where the two providers differ across key infrastructure dimensions. These are architectural differences, not feature rankings.
Where each provider fits
Clear Junction is well suited to regulated institutions that need GBP and EUR payment rails with a provider that also bridges fiat and digital asset infrastructure. Its dual FCA licensing as both an EMI and a crypto-asset service provider is a distinctive capability that few UK-based institutions offer. For crypto exchanges needing compliant fiat on-ramps and off-ramps, remittance providers serving UK and EU corridors, and PSPs that need correspondent accounts with virtual IBAN issuance, Clear Junction has built a focused product set. The on-chain stablecoin services and escrow capabilities extend into use cases that traditional payment infrastructure providers do not cover.
Lorum addresses a different set of requirements. Platforms that need named custody accounts rather than virtual IBANs linked to correspondent accounts will find a fundamentally different architecture. The named account model establishes a direct informational and contractual link between the custodian and the end customer, which satisfies regulatory requirements that are tightening under regimes like the FCA's Supplementary Regime and PSD3. Where Clear Junction's clearing access is concentrated in GBP and EUR, Lorum's connectivity spans 30+ markets globally, including USD, EUR, GBP, and AED, with direct access to local payment rails rather than routing through SWIFT for non-core currencies.
The regulatory model difference is also relevant. Clear Junction operates under EMI regulation, which governs how electronic money is issued, held, and safeguarded. Lorum operates as a specialist correspondent institution, which is a structurally different regulatory category designed for clearing and custody rather than e-money issuance. For platforms whose fiduciary obligations require that their infrastructure provider's business model is aligned with custody and clearing rather than e-money services, this distinction matters. Lorum's non-lending, 100% reserve model means client funds are held in custody without exposure to the provider's credit risk. For platforms managing client money under safeguarding requirements, the regulatory framework governing the infrastructure provider affects counterparty risk assessment.
The infrastructure decision
The choice between Clear Junction and Lorum is not a question of which provider is better. It is a question of what the platform's infrastructure requirements are. A crypto exchange that needs FCA-regulated fiat rails with on-chain stablecoin settlement has different needs from a payroll platform that must hold employee funds in named, segregated accounts across multiple jurisdictions. As regulatory frameworks converge on stricter fund segregation and custody requirements, the distinction between EMI-regulated virtual IBANs and specialist correspondent custody accounts becomes more consequential.
Platforms should evaluate the regulatory framework governing fund protection (EMI safeguarding vs. specialist correspondent custody), the account structure (virtual IBANs vs. named custody accounts), the geographic coverage required, whether digital asset infrastructure is part of the requirement, and whether the provider's clearing access covers the currencies and corridors the platform needs. The answers to these questions will determine which infrastructure is the right fit.
