American Express to Launch Open Banking Product, Enabling UK Consumers to Pay for Online Purchases with a Bank Transfer

American Express plans to launch a new product later this year that will enable UK consumers to quickly and securely pay for goods and services online and on the go, directly from their bank account. Pay with Bank transfer will be a real-time payment option available to Current Account holders at UK banks, regardless of whether they are American Express Cardmembers.

American Express is partnering with a number of merchants to launch Pay with Bank transfer on their UK ecommerce sites later this year. These merchants cross multiple industries and include Hays Travel, JustGiving, Oak Furnitureland, Richer Sounds, Royal Lancaster London hotel, and Thai Airways.

American Express is committed to providing innovative solutions to merchants’ and consumers’ payment needs. Leveraging Open Banking regulation, Pay with Bank transfer will enable merchants to receive instant payments from all major UK banks’ Current Account holders. Consumers will be able to make online payments quickly without a Card to hand, view their bank current account balances prior to confirming payment, and will benefit from bank-level data security.

Consumers will simply click on the Pay with Bank transfer button on the merchant’s payment page and select the bank they wish to pay from. The consumer will then be automatically redirected to the bank’s webpage or app to authenticate themselves and approve the payment details.

Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE, Trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) said: “It’s great to see American Express seizing the potential that Open Banking can bring to companies, helping businesses offer a new method to swiftly and securely accept online payments from their customers. American Express can offer extensive payment experience, which will help to build trust in Open Banking and encourage adoption of an innovative new method of payment.”

Dan Edelman, Vice President, American Express, said: “American Express is driving innovation in payments, and Pay with Bank transfer reflects our commitment to delivering choice for UK consumers and businesses through new ways to pay. Today’s announcement is another way American Express is offering digital-first solutions in our effort to be an essential part of our customers’ digital lives. We’re excited about Open Banking and the benefits this product will provide to both consumers and merchants.”

Keith Williams, General Manager and Head of UK and Ireland at JustGiving, said: “Over the past 19 years, JustGiving has built a special relationship and trust with its fundraisers, crowdfunders, donors and charities where every penny raised has real purpose to do more good in the world. How consumers prefer to pay has never been under so much change, scrutiny and advancement and we are pleased to be partnering with

American Express to be the first giving platform to innovate through Open Banking. This will not only put us at the forefront of consumer behaviour in payment and banking innovation, it will also make giving even easier.”

Open Banking is an initiative to enable people to better control their financial data.  New EU rules have been put in place to allow people to pull together their data from multiple financial institutions, and share it with third parties who they trust to gain insights and value.  The new rules also create opportunities for new payment products, including American Express’ Pay with Bank transfer.

American Express intends to launch Pay with Bank transfer with its initial merchants before the end of the year, and the product will continue to roll out across additional ecommerce sites throughout 2020.  Merchants interested in learning more can visit: www.americanexpress.com/uk/paywithbanktransfer/merchant