Flywire and Trustly Bring Open Banking Partnership to US

Flywire is expanding support for open banking payments in the U.S. and Canada.

The expansion, done in partnership with Trustly, is designed to let payers authorize secure, large domestic and cross-border payments from their bank accounts and in their local currency, the payments enablement company said in a Wednesday (Aug. 12) news release.

“Our clients tell us their payers want modern, digital payment experiences that eliminate friction,” said Kate Moran, vice president of global payments at Flywire.

“This expansion delivers exactly that – a fully online payment option that improves accuracy, reduces payment failures, and gives payers real-time visibility into their transactions. We’re applying the open banking infrastructure we’ve successfully scaled across Europe to North America, enabling our clients to confidently offer their payers a proven experience.”

According to the release, the partnership builds on a nearly 20-year collaboration between Flywire and Trustly in Europe while expanding support across North America.

When choosing to pay with Trustly Pay by Bank, payers use their existing online bank login credentials at checkout, with no need to re-enter bank account information to finish the transaction, Flywire said.

“Combined with Flywire, the partnership offers a secure and transparent payment option for high-value bank transfers,” the release added.

In other open banking news, recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that while many institutions look at open banking as a key to retaining consumer and business relationships, consumers are not yet entirely sold on the concept.

According to “Consumer Sentiment About Open Banking Payments,” completed in collaboration with Trustly, about 46% of American consumers said they would be willing to use open banking payments for at least one type of purchase, with monthly bills, groceries and subscriptions garnering the greatest interest. Still, only 11% of those consumers said they had actually made an open banking payment.

“The read across is that providers still face work explaining when consumers should choose account-to-account payments instead of cards, digital wallets or traditional bank bill pay,” PYMNTS wrote last month.

Trustly announced earlier this year it now has more than 120 million users worldwide, coming amid rising adoption of Pay by Bank in the U.K.

Around 15 million consumers and businesses in the U.K. are Pay by Bank users, the equivalent of almost a third of the country’s adult population, with the country’s open banking system marking its billionth payment late last month.