Ecospend primed to support more than 580 government organisations through UK Government direct award contract

Following the success of its partnership with HMRC, Ecospend, the open banking technology provider, has the potential to support any of the Government’s 583 departments, agencies, and public bodies through its direct award contract.

Governmental bodies looking to implement ‘pay by bank’ services could avoid time consuming procurement processes and see the benefits of open banking payments immediately.

Ecospend has already been enlisted to implement ‘pay by bank’ payments across a number of HMRC tax regimes, including self-assessment, PAYE, corporation tax and VAT. HMRC was the first Government in the world to offer customers the ability to pay via this method, and truly integrate open banking technology.

Since being commissioned, Ecospend has initiated £2.4bn worth of open banking transactions through its ‘pay by bank’ services across its client portfolio.

Ecospend’s open banking technology allows customers to bypass manual data input when carrying out online payments. Customers can make instant payments directly from their bank account, at a fraction of the cost of traditional cards to merchants, while also significantly reducing the risk of fraud.

James Hickman, CCO, Ecospend, said: “By using our ‘pay by bank’ services any governmental department can reap the benefits of open banking, without having to worry about lengthy, drawn-out procurement processes. Not only does our solution provide customers with a smooth and seamless experience when making a payment, but it also reduces the costs for organisations when compared to traditional card transactions, while reducing the risk of fraud and money being lost in the system.”