Open Banking in Europe: Unlocking Powerful Benefits for Merchants

Today, open banking payments are generating a lot of hype. Juniper Research estimates that the global value of open banking payment transactions will exceed $330 billion by 2027. Let's decode this skyrocketing growth, identify the major adopters of open banking in Europe, and explore how merchants can benefit from this knowledge.

What are the key advantages of open banking?

1⃣ Open banking in Europe allows consumers to make payments directly from their bank accounts, eliminating the need for card details and reducing payment failures, e.g., the success rate for API calls in the UK is 99.5%.

2⃣ Open banking payments are near-instant. Merchants that offer them receive customer funds in real time, and at a fraction of the cost of card payments.

3⃣ Additionally, since payments occur within the customer’s online banking environment, they inherently benefit from bank-level security, eliminating concerns about card fraud.

According to Statista, there are almost 64 million users of open banking in Europe in 2024, representing an increase of more than 400% since 2020. UpGate is here to connect your business with this audience across the following countries:

UK
The UK's Open Banking ecosystem is highly mature, driven by a regulatory framework and extensive use of standardized APIs, with oversight from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ensuring compliance among banks, building societies, and TPPs. Projections by The Payments Association indicate that open banking transactions will grow substantially, increasing from $57 billion in 2023 to $330 billion by 2027.

Germany
Germany's strong banking sector, with over 1,200 banks and financial institutions, has facilitated the successful implementation of Open Banking, supported by an extended bank network and a positive reception for these initiatives.

The country hosts The Berlin Group, consisting of almost 40 banks across the EU. The NextGenPSD2 API, launched in 2020, ensures stringent open banking practices, providing standardized procedures for third-party providers and German banks to integrate.

France
In France, Open Banking adoption is slower and fragmented due to diverse API standards, particularly the STET API. According to the Open Banking Tracker as of October 2023, there were 89 bank APIs and 21 API aggregators in the country.

In France, 50% of consumers use mobile and online banking primarily for bill payments. A unified approach to bill presentment via open finance is appealing to 56% of consumers and 46% of businesses for its convenience in tracking bills in one place.

We will help to scale your business globally, optimise the payment strategy and grow the revenue.

👉 Ready to discuss? DM Sergei Peshkov and learn more from a personalised demo.