One Third of Businesses and Three in 10 Consumers Are Ready to Adopt Open Banking Payments

Businesses and consumers alike are ready to embrace open banking, according to a survey from YouGov and GoCardless. 29% of UK consumers said they are likely to try open banking-powered Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) as they become more widely available, with 36% of that group agreeing that the technology sounded convenient. At the same time, one in three (33%) UK financial decision makers stated they are likely to use VRPs in the future, with 23% of those citing convenience as their top reason for trying.

Simplicity and security are also important factors driving payer preferences. Nearly four in 10 (39%) consumers said security is the most important factor in prompting them to try a new payment method. Almost one in six (16%) cited ‘simple to use’ as the top motivator.

The new insights bode well for the adoption of open banking, which reduces unnecessary friction at the checkout while increasing speed and security. Adoption is growing; the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) revealed last week that there are now 7 million active users. However, industry players believe there is more to be done as the market awaits the recommendations from the Joint Regulatory Operating Committee (JROC) on the future of open banking in the UK.

Hiroki Takeuchi, CEO and co-founder at GoCardless, said: “Open banking has changed the face of financial services in the UK; from better, safer banking experiences for consumers to more affordable services for businesses that truly rival traditional costly payment methods like cards. However, we need to build on this momentum to maintain our position as a world leader in this space. There’s a lot to do but cracking on with establishing OBIE’s successor, ensuring the current standards apply across all market participants, fixing reliability and consistency issues, and building out Variable Recurring Payments would be a great place to start.”