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 Pay by Bank, how it works and its main benefits in just 90 seconds.

Viewing:

UI elements moving upwards

5 lessons on launching an open banking app in Ireland

Olivia and Irish Life co-launched one of Ireland's first open banking apps. Here’s what we learned.

Background image

TrueTalk with Julie

Meet our entrepreneurial colleague Julie, a diversity and inclusion champion and Senior Legal Counsel at TrueLayer.

Money moving upwards

Announcing our $25m fundraise to open up finance

The additional funding, under our Series C, enables us to take the next steps on our mission.

money surrounded by folders and documents

The wealthtech customer journey: reimagined

Savvy wealthtechs like Nutmeg, Trading 212, Stake and Freetrade are using open banking to eliminate friction in the user experience.

Iconography of a bank, a hand receiving money and a chart going upwards

Marketplaces: 5 reasons to care about open banking

Online marketplaces are booming, but operators face tricky challenges. How can open banking help?

Map of europe with money moving between countries

How different banks have implemented PSD2 in Europe

Here at TrueLayer, we’ve been experiencing first-hand the varying ways banks have implemented PSD2.

TrueLayer launches in Italy

You can now access data from the largest banks in Italy with TrueLayer

Expanding our coverage to Spain

You can now use TrueLayer’s open banking platform to access data from the largest banks in Spain.

Money moving upwards

How open banking is revolutionising online gambling

Player experience is more important than ever. The need to convert and retain loyal players is critical to long-term success.

Background image

TrueTalk with Jamish

Meet our engaging and thoughtful colleague, Jamish, a Customer Success Manager in the Commercial team at TrueLayer.

Background image

Our commitment to change

We stand against racism, and we stand with our Black friends, family members, and colleagues: Black Lives Matter.

Background image

Support charities and crisis workers during Covid-19 with Donate Direct

Introducing our new donation app – Donate Direct – designed to raise funds for charities and crisis workers on the frontline.

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