Key takeaways
- Pay by Bank works best as one option among several, not as a replacement.
- It fits especially well with high-value baskets, recurring top-ups, bills and markets with strong banking apps.
- How you present it at checkout has a big effect on how many customers choose it.
Cards and digital wallets are deeply familiar to customers, and they aren't going anywhere. Pay by Bank doesn't need to replace them. Its job is to give customers another fast, secure way to pay, and to give businesses a payment method with different strengths.
Where Pay by Bank shines
- High-value purchases, where card fees calculated as a percentage add up quickly.
- Account top-ups and wallet funding, where customers move their own money.
- Invoices and bills, where the customer would otherwise make a manual bank transfer.
- Markets where people already use their banking app every day.
- B2B payments, where bank transfers are already the norm.
Where cards and wallets still lead
Cards remain the default for many cross-border purchases and for customers who want to pay on credit. Wallets are hard to beat for small, frequent purchases on mobile. A good checkout lets each method do what it does best.
The goal isn't to win every payment. It's to give each customer the option that suits them.
Presenting it at checkout
How a payment method appears affects how often it gets chosen. A few principles help:
- Use a clear, recognisable name such as "Pay by Bank" or "Pay with your bank app".
- Add a short line explaining what happens: "Approve the payment in your banking app".
- Show bank logos customers will recognise in their market.
- Place it where it's visible, not hidden in a list of alternatives.
- If there's a customer benefit, such as faster refunds or a discount, say so.
Measure and adjust
Track how many customers choose Pay by Bank, how many complete the payment, and which banks they use. Small changes to wording and order often have a measurable effect, so it's worth testing.