GoCardless , a provider of direct bank payments, has partnered with Xero , a small business platform, to provide its Instant Bank Pay feature to Xero’s customers in the UK. Instant Bank Pay is a new Open Banking feature directly integrated into the GoCardless global payment platform.

With Instant Bank Pay, Xero users can receive one-off bank-to-bank payments from new and existing customers while still reaping the benefits of Direct Debit for their recurring payments. Instant Bank Pay supports all businesses, including those with recurring revenue models. According to GoCardless research, 85% of recurring revenue businesses have a need for collecting one-off payments, such as a supplementary fee during tax season.

Using Instant Bank Pay, Xero customers can accept one-off account-to-account payments and benefit from instant confirmation with payment authorisation completed in seconds. They will also enjoy fast, one-day settlement and access to recurring and instant one-off payments through one provider. The Instant Bank Pay feature According to the official press release, one of the biggest challenges for small businesses is the time it takes to generate and issue invoices and then chase payments using multiple systems.

The GoCardless Instant Bank Pay feature is a way in which Xero is making it easier for businesses to collect payments from their customers. Merchants can add the Instant Bank Pay option straight into their checkout flow or send a payment request with a link to pay. Similar to a mobile wallet payment, customers are connected to their bank, and can authorise a payment directly from their bank account in just a few clicks.

Since April 2021, GoCardless has introduced two Open Banking-powered features, Instant Bank Pay and Verified Mandates, which combines Open Banking account information services with direct debit to prevent fraud, across the US, UK, and Germany.