Open Banking payments network TrueLayer has launched payment links, a feature that enables businesses to accept Open Banking payments online, via chat, and in-store. The product launch seeks to facilitate instant payments powered by Open Banking directly from an email, text message, or a QR code.

TrueLayer’s payment links To leverage payment links, a customer scans a QR code or clicks an online link, be that through an email, chatbot conversation, or text message, which takes them directly to their online bank accounts to carry out the payments straight to the business. What is more, the functionality can be used either online, or as part of the in-store shopping experience. As per the press release information, payment links are part of a new generation of innovative instant payment tools, all built to change the payments experience and further expand Open Banking’s use cases in retail, ecommerce, and beyond.

Combined with TrueLayer’s reach across Europe, the feature is believed to help expedite the growth of Open Banking payments into the mainstream. Payment links help simplify the process of building a payments page by enabling businesses to create checkout pages in a matter of minutes, free of requirements for a website or third-party ecommerce platform integration. Exemplifying on this, the announcement details that retailers are set to be able to use payment links in email remarketing to target cart abandonments, businesses can use them for simplified invoicing, and charities can use them to modernise in-person donations.

The key benefits of payment links as included in the company’s blog post are as follows: Payment acceptance across channels: enabling customers to make instant bank payments from almost anywhere. Easy setup: a payment link can be created in a matter of seconds, leveraging TrueLayer’s API, with no additional infrastructure or website required. What is more, payment links can easily be added to existing systems of the likes of CRM and POS. Security: payment fraud is decreased as bank authentication is built into every payment. Increased sales with an optimised payment flow: drop-offs at checkout can be reduced through a TrueLayer-hosted payments page that is pre-built and optimised for conversion. When commenting on the launch, Michael Brown, Head of Ecommerce at TrueLayer advised that legacy payment options of the likes of cards have not kept up with the experiences expected by customers and businesses alike when making a purchase, as these methods settle in a matter of days, are increasingly frictional, and oftentimes require a multitude of resources to build payment infrastructure.

Per their statement, as they are powered by Open Banking, payment links are an easy-to-implement and instant-to-settle solution that will enable merchants to accept Open Banking payments anywhere, be that across their marketing channels, emails, texts, and in-store. The spokesperson believes TrueLayer’s payment links showcase how Open Banking can be leveraged towards transforming business payments and consumers' experiences, while concomitantly demonstrating the company’s commitment to furthering the possibilities of Open Banking payments. Based on the announcement information, payment links are already live with TruLayer’s customers, including Topps Tiles, which has more than 300 stores in the UK, and Southampton’s Solent Wholesale, a carpet wholesaler.

Both companies are leveraging TrueLayer’s product feature to better invoicing by automating the process via email, to reduce payment processing costs, and simplify the payment for customers, which in turn helps increase their cash flow. For more information about TrueLayer, please check out their detailed profile in our dedicated, industry-specific Company Database. .