Guides to open banking and payment routing

These guides explain PISPs, pay by bank, open banking in the UK and the difference between payment orchestration and payment routing. Each one names the providers involved and links a source for its claims.

What is a PISP? Payment initiation explained

What a payment initiation service provider does, how a payment through one works and which providers offer it.

3 min read

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In brief

PISP: A regulated firm that starts a payment from a customer's bank account, with their approval at their bank.
AISP: A regulated firm that reads balances, transactions and account details with the customer's consent.
Pay by bank: A payment the customer sends from their own account, approved in their banking app, with no card involved.
Faster Payments: The UK's real-time system for single payments, operated by Pay.UK. Open banking payments normally use it.
Variable recurring payments: Payments made under a standing consent that the customer approves once, within agreed limits.
Confirmation of Payee: Pay.UK's check that the name on an account matches the name the payer typed.
Payment routing: Choosing, for each payment, which provider carries it, by cost, speed and the chance it succeeds.

Pay by bank and account-to-account payments explained

How account-to-account payments work at checkout, how they compare with cards and what a business needs to accept them.

4 min read

How open banking works in the UK

Who regulates open banking in the UK, the providers that offer it and how Faster Payments, variable recurring payments and Confirmation of Payee fit in.

4 min read

Payment orchestration vs payment routing

What each term covers, where they overlap and what to ask when you add a second payment provider.

4 min read

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