Lloyds Banking Group has acquired a minority stake as part of a strategic partnership with Form3, a cloud-native payments technology startup.

The firm, founded in 2016, helps simplify payments architecture capabilities while providing support for the New Payments Architecture initiative in the U.K. through its cloud-native Payments-as-a-Service.

"Simplifying payments architecture while enhancing security and performance are critical to our digitalization of the group," Otto Benz, director, payments technical services at Lloyds Banking Group, said in a press release. "The potential of the cloud in payments is enormous and is firmly at the forefront of our strategy."

He said the bank is committed to working with the most innovative technology providers, including Form3, to deliver a range of solutions that push the boundaries of what's possible while reducing risk and giving customers an enhanced digital experience.

"We believe this is an opportunity to support Lloyds's transformation using our rapidly evolving technology," Michael Mueller, CEO at Form3, said in the press release. "The partnership is breaking new ground in collaboration by enabling Lloyds to utilize best in class software built to harness the unique properties of the cloud."

Officials said Lloyds would continue to look at additional investment opportunities to accelerate the delivery of its transformation program. The bank previously announced partnerships with Google Cloud and Microsoft, including the development of Microsoft Managed Desktop, as part of its digital transformation.