Trustly has formed an automatic payments partnership with Sweden-based digital mailbox provider Kivra.
The partnership, announced Monday (Feb. 10), centers around the companies’ “Autogiro” solution, designed to streamline automatic payments.
According to a news release, the service lets users register direct debit with a simple BankID confirmation, reducing the barriers to sign-up. For businesses, the release added, the solution can lead to more on-time payments, lower the administrative workload, and improve the customer experience.
“Trustly is driving the development of open banking on a global scale, and Sweden—with its world-class fintech sector—is the perfect market to test new innovations,” said Trustly CEO Johan Tjärnberg. “Together with Kivra, we look forward to setting a new standard for the future of payments.”
With bank account details pre-filled, the release adds, Autogiro can be instantly activated via BankID confirmation, reducing errors and ensuring a greater success rate for new users.
“This minimizes errors and ensures a higher success rate for users signing up,” the release added. “Payments are processed automatically, while users maintain full control with notifications and spending limits.”
For businesses, the companies added, the solution improves cash flow, lessens the need for manual follow-ups, and produces greater customer satisfaction by making sure more invoices are paid on schedule.
PYMNTS spoke last month with Trustly Chief Product Officer Adam D’arcy, who said it’s “an exciting time” to be in the open banking space.
As that report noted, open banking has been around for years, gaining popularity in places like the UK and Hong Kong. But in the U.S., its potential is only now being realized.
Pay by bank is positioned to complement — and not compete with — payment methods such as digital wallets. D’arcy told PYMNTS he believes wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay may eventually incorporate pay-by-bank functionality, in the same way that they’ve integrated buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings.
“It’s still very nascent, particularly in the U.S.,” he said, citing the need for standardization and broader consumer education before such integrations become widespread.
The advent of pay by bank, PYMNTS wrote, will ultimately transform the relationships between banks, FinTechs and merchants.
“While large banks may find the cost of compliance manageable, smaller institutions could face challenges,” that report said. “Collaboration with third-party providers will be essential to navigate these hurdles and unlock new opportunities.”
