Open Banking payments excel in providing security, privacy, speed, and efficiency, often surpassing other payment methods. This highlights the growing necessity for merchants to offer Open Banking at checkout.

The research aligns with emerchantpay's previous findings, showing that nearly one-fifth (19%) of consumers expect to use Open Banking more frequently in five years, outpacing preferences for Buy Now Pay Later (14%) and cryptocurrencies (7%). Despite this, there is a significant need for public education: while 51% of the British public had not heard of Open Banking, 58% recognised they had used it after receiving an explanation.

Emerchantpay's survey of 2,000 UK consumers aimed to gain deeper insights into payment decision factors. Beyond security, privacy, speed, and efficiency, consumers also prioritised the cost of the payment method (29%), data ownership (18%), and account balance transparency (17%).

Jon Horddal, Chief Product Officer at emerchantpay explains, “The factors most important to consumers when choosing a payment method are all offered by Open Banking, so it’s of no surprise that Open Banking is steadily gaining popularity

“To maintain customer loyalty and reduce the risk of checkout abandonment, merchants must keep up with consumer demand when it comes to payments. These findings underscore the importance of integrating Open Banking as a method that goes beyond others to provide the highest level of security, data privacy, speed and efficiency. 

“To unlock the greatest benefit from Open Banking Payments, however, merchants must help educate consumers about the advantages it offers, to encourage uptake. Despite 66% of consumers indicating they've never received communication from their banks regarding Open Banking, a staggering 88% expressed that transparency remains a critical factor in trusting banks and third-party providers. This highlights the need for educational efforts, which could be as simple as providing a brief, written explanation at the checkout.

Following recent developments, emerchantpay announced its partnership with TrueLayer, a leading European open banking payments network. This collaboration enables emerchantpay to offer bank transfer payments as an online checkout option for merchants across the UK and Europe.

With this integration, merchants using emerchantpay can provide their customers with a seamless and secure payment experience. Customers can instantly connect to their online banking environment at checkout, logging into their bank accounts to complete transactions quickly and effortlessly. This new payment method allows for swift, secure transactions, enhancing the overall efficiency of the checkout process.