Chapter two of our Open Banking consumer report is now available

The payments landscape is an ever-evolving environment, requiring merchants to stay on the pulse of emerging payment trends to remain ahead of their competitors. Open Banking is an innovation that is set to significantly transform payments, presenting a multitude of benefits for consumers and businesses.

We recently commissioned a survey of over 2,000 UK consumers to uncover vital insights on how this innovative offering can be used to appeal to changing consumer preferences. Chapter two: Open Banking – Pushing the frontiers of payments highlights our findings, unveiling how Open Banking’s benefits align with current consumer payment demands and how this new solution can be successfully implemented by merchants to elevate checkout experiences.

Consumers are seeking reassurance about payment security and privacy

With online payment fraud rates on the rise, consumers are more vigilant than ever about the security of their payment details and protecting themselves against the risk of data breaches, identity theft and/or unauthorised access to their bank account.

According to our research, 39% of UK shoppers were worried about sharing financial information due to data leakages. Further to this, 38% of UK consumers are worried about someone hacking into or stealing their phone and being able to make payments directly from their bank account. Furthermore, merchants can highlight Open Banking’s unique features to appeal to changing consumer demands at the checkout.

Consumers are using a mix of payment methods at the checkout

While our research uncovered that cards are the most preferred payment method for almost half (48%) of UK consumers, our research also emphasised that consumers are using a diverse range of payment methods at the checkout. Specifically, 19% of consumers stated they preferred to use digital wallets for payments, followed by Open Banking payments (10%) and online banking (10%). Further to this, younger UK shoppers were shown to be more likely to use Open Banking payments in-store over their current preferred payment method, with 23% of 18-24-year-olds sharing as such. To this effect, merchants must ensure their payments mix includes a broad range of options to maximise their revenue and conversions.

Consumers want bank-based payment methods

Our findings revealed that over a third (37%) of UK consumers are likely to pay directly from their bank account over their current preferred payment method, if this option was available to them. To this effect, merchants who harness Open Banking early on have the potential to capture and convert untapped audiences, aligning with evolving payment expectations, while gaining a competitive advantage.

“As our research unveils, Open Banking provides merchants with the opportunity to adapt their payment strategy to meet the changing checkout demands of shoppers, allowing them to reach new audiences and maximise conversions. Given Open Banking’s novelty, it’s crucial for merchants to partner with a payment provider who has the solutions and expertise in place to help merchants smoothly integrate Open Banking into their payments mix. This will allow merchants to effectively fine-tune their payments performance, while elevating the checkout experience of their customers.”

Jon Horddal, Chief Product Officer at emerchantpay

Expand your reach and revenue possibilities with Open Banking

emerchantpay is a global payment service provider and acquirer with over 20 years of experience in making payments easy for businesses. We’re empowering businesses to accept payments seamlessly with our Bank transfer (Open Banking) solution, which is just one of over 60 payment methods we currently offer.

Download your copy of Chapter two: Open Banking – Pushing the frontiers of payments now and unlock key insights on how Open Banking can fulfil current payment gaps, enhancing the payment experiences of customers.