United Wholesale Scotland (UWS) has announced its plan to save GBP 500,000 a year in card payment and transaction fees after incorporating Open Banking services. According to the press release, UWS launched its Open Banking solution in collaboration with Echo Pay in January and it focused on allowing clients to fund orders directly while using their business accounts.

Following its launch, the UWS Open Banking solution became increasingly popular among customers as it has a lower charger for the wholesaler and it makes the overall transfer process more seamless and secure. This year, the company aims to process around GBP 20 million worth of sales using the new payment method, as more than 20% of their users prefer te Open Banking solution when it comes to making their payments. The development of Open Banking in the industry The importance of Open Banking was recently discussed by Charlotte Wise (head of Business Development at American Express) in a `Voice of the Industry` article published by The Paypers.

The purpose of the article was to offer readers an overview of the way Open Banking is changing finance amid the cost of living crisis and its potential for innovation. As the high inflation and the increased cost of living represents a common concern of customers around the world, they seem to pay closer attention to the way they spend their money. The company’s recent research found that 77% of UK billpayers think it’s more important to stay on top of their finances now, while other 73% value greater visibility and control over their monthly spending.

An example given in the publishing was the Pay with Bank transfer product offered by American Express, which allows clients to make payments while being directed to their banking application. Furthermore, they are enabled to see their financial position and have the knowledge to make informed purchase decisions. Thus, Open Banking is seen by many as a `force of good`, since it focuses on providing customers with increased transparency, visibility, and control over their finances and data.

Earlier in the same month, Open Banking platform Yapily published new research which revealed that businesses in the UK are losing up to GBP 656 million at online checkouts. The paper was entitled ‘State of Payments 2023: The £650 Million Problem Open Banking Can Fix’ and it focused on 2,000 adults that live in the UK, revealing that 52% of the surveyed customers decided to ditch at least one of their online purchases in the last 12 months because of the poor services they had at the online checkouts. Furthermore, up to 41% of UK users mentioned that they prefer to see businesses that offer more efficient and easy payment methods at checkout.

In the paper was included the Open Banking-powered service Pay by Bank, which offers multiple clients, companies, and businesses the benefits of using Open Banking payments. These included the opportunity to cut out costly interchange fees, reduce fraud risks, and boost conversion rates. .