TrueLayer Blog: payments advice, news & Insights

Blog

The complete guide to Pay by Bank: what is it and how does it work?

The complete guide to Pay by Bank, the fast-growing online payment method, offering an alternative to cards. Should your business be offering it at checkout?

What is Pay by Bank header

Featured articles

black friday promotions

Your Black Friday payments checklist for champions of the checkout

Live up to your customer's payment expectations and reign champion of the checkout this peak season.

VRP is back on the agenda

Recurring payments

VRP is back on the agenda for 2025

Find out why VRP (AKA Bank on file) is finally having its breakout moment in 2025.

Hey, I'm Andy from TrueLayer, and I'm going to try and tell you everything you need to know about Pay by Bank—in just ninety seconds. Let’s start the clock. Let’s keep it simple. What is Pay by Bank? It’s a payment method that lets you pay directly from your bank account via your banking app—with zero need for card networks. That could mean buying pizza, paying for flights, or just about anything in between. And it’s actually pretty easy—and very quick. It looks a bit like this: start by tapping the Pay by Bank button, then choose your bank from the list. If you’ve used it before, we can even preselect your preferred bank. You then review the payment, and you’re seamlessly redirected to your bank app to approve it using secure biometrics. That’s Face ID or a fingerprint, to you and me. And that’s it—success. But no time to relax—we're on the clock! Now, this might be the first time you’re hearing about it, but every month in the UK, 27 million payments are made using Pay by Bank. And most people who haven’t tried it yet say they’d be happy to—if given the option. On the merchant side, nine out of ten businesses are already planning to adopt it in one way or another. So what’s in it for businesses? Number one: more potential sales. No cards means no long card numbers, no clunky 3DS2—just a smoother experience from start to finish. And it converts. Number two: because payment details are pre-populated and verified with biometrics, things like card-not-present fraud, chargebacks, and authorized push payment fraud are virtually eliminated. Number three: lower costs. Without all the intermediaries and manual admin, the total cost of Pay by Bank is typically lower than card payments. I'm running out of time—one last benefit: instant refunds. And trust me, shoppers love instant refunds. And breathe. That was a lot to cram into ninety seconds. If you’d like to take your time and learn more about Pay by Bank—and why brands like Just Eat Takeaway, lastminute.com, Ryanair, and Papa John’s already offer it at checkout—you can read our in-depth guide. There should be a link on screen now. And that’s it. Thanks for watching.

Everything you need to know about Pay by Bank in 90 seconds

Get up to speed on the future of payments. Understand what Pay by Bank is, how it works, and its key benefits for your business in this quick guide.

Viewing:

TrueTalk with Brenton

Meet Brenton Charnley – road cyclist, dad-to-be and TrueLayer's CEO for Australia & New Zealand.

money, documents and data

How to reduce overhead costs for a business

If not managed properly, overhead costs can spiral out of control for any business.

Phone UI showing a cryptocurrency exchange

Crypto exchanges are looking to open banking – here's why

Buying crypto is not as easy as it should be, but open banking can help.

Ecommerce fraud guide & 5 fraud protection solutions

Reducing fraud for your ecommerce business is essential but complicated. Our guide gives you 5 fraud protection solutions, common types of fraud & more.

document surrounded by ui elements

Business growth

10 ways to improve cash flow in your business

Read on to better understand how to improve cash flow. As a business it can be challenging to improve cash flow, so we've put together 10 strategies to help.

Stars from the EU flag with psd2 in the middle

Compliance & reg

How did PSD2 change open banking requirements?

We talk about everything you need to know on PSD2 open banking requirements. What is PSD2 and how it impacted open banking, read more here.

UI showing an instant bank payment

Online & ecommerce payment methods explained

What are some common payment methods in ecommerce? We help you choose the right payment methods for ecommerce. Find out more here.

Money, documents and data moving

Recurring payments

Your guide to subscription business models

Many profitable businesses use subscription models, but which type could be right for your brand?

TrueTalk with Jack

Meet Jack – cellist, father, Yorkshire lad, ex-FCA advisor and TrueLayer’s Head of Public Policy.

TrueTalk with Sebastian

Meet Sebastian – fintech expert, football fan and TrueLayer’s General Manager for Germany.

money moving upwards

Beyond PSD2: what’s next for payments in Europe?

PSD2 kickstarted payments innovation in Europe, but what's holding it back and where do we go from here?

Two chat bubbles talking to each other

JustGiving, Ticketmaster, OBIE and more talk open banking payments

Payment experts across the online retail world discuss the state of open banking across Europe.

Browse by category

Get started

Talk to us

Curious about where our open banking payments network could take your business?

Start building

Create an account now to explore our APIs.

Keep exploring

More great content from our team