Modulr, a UK-based electronic money institution (EMI), announced a U.S. expansion on September 23, 2026 through a partnership with Cogent Bank. Cogent holds the charter, and its core connects directly to FIS’s Money Movement Hub. Modulr customers can open U.S. accounts and make same-day and standard payouts over ACH, RTP and FedNow from one platform, with routing optimized automatically for cost and speed.

What the release says

Modulr described the arrangement as a strategic partnership and called Cogent a U.S. state-chartered, full-service community bank in its announcement. The deal builds on Modulr’s first U.S. launch earlier in 2026, when FIS selected it to supply payments technology to U.S. financial institutions.

Modulr is authorized as an EMI by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and by De Nederlandsche Bank in Europe. The release names no U.S. license of its own: Cogent is the bank in the structure. Modulr says it processes more than 200 million transactions and over £180 billion in payment value a year for over 6,000 businesses.

Barbara Negron, SVP, Managing Director, Embedded Finance & Partnerships at Cogent Bank, said the combination is “making it easier for businesses to move money quickly, securely and efficiently.”

Cogent’s second embedded-finance role is with FIS itself. FIS said on September 3, 2026 that Cogent Bank is a pilot bank for its Embedded Banking Platform, which keeps accounts on the bank’s own balance sheet, with accounts and payments planned for Q4 2026.

What it changes for fintechs and banks

Modulr names two groups of customers: its existing clients expanding into the U.S., and U.S.-native platforms processing high volumes of payments in lending, earned wage access and payroll. The shape is the sponsor-bank arrangement applied to account-to-account payouts. The fintech runs the platform and the customer relationship; the bank holds the charter and the rail access. Teams weighing that structure can compare it with how to choose a sponsor bank and the rest of the BaaS and sponsor banks coverage, and payout-heavy platforms will recognize the pattern from marketplace payouts. Cogent does not yet have a profile in our sponsor bank directory.

Modulr also cites network data for context: FedNow processed $853 billion in 2025, and The Clearing House’s real-time payments (RTP) network processed over $1.3 trillion in the same year. Instant-rail pricing is covered separately in our report on the FedNow discount program.

What to watch

  • The pilot. Modulr will “begin piloting our U.S. platform with several key customers” in earned wage access, lending and merchant services, said founder and CEO Myles Stephenson. No date is given.
  • Earned wage access and payroll, which the release says Modulr will move into shortly. No date is given.
  • Q4 2026, when FIS plans accounts and payments on its Embedded Banking Platform with Cogent among the pilot banks.

The release does not publish pricing, whether customer accounts sit in an FBO structure or directly at the bank, or Cogent’s charter state and primary regulator. Its boilerplate mentions only Florida banking centers.