NatWest has been named the first UK bank on the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) new Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Open Banking services.
The CCS introduced the Open Banking DPS last month. The platform allows public sector organisations to access a comprehensive suite of open banking services and account-to-account payments under a single agreement.
CCS’ new initiative hopes to reduce fraud and improve payment processes for government transactions, allowing citizens and businesses to pay and receive money from the public sector through alternative methods instead of relying solely on card payments.
Following the announcement, buyers will be able to access Payit by NatWest open banking solutions as well as Confirmation of Payee (CoP) API to support fraud prevention, which launched in 2020.
This DPS will be accessible by all public sector entities in the UK including central government, local authorities, NHS, police, education providers, devolved administrations and charities.
Mike Elliff, CEO at Payit by NatWest, commented: “After becoming the first country in the world to accept tax payments via Open Banking, this DPS will give the public sector access to a pool of pre-qualified suppliers.
“NatWest is delighted to be the first UK bank appointed to the DPS. Open banking is a key part of the UK financial ecosystem and seeing it integrated into the public sector is encouraging.
The bank is already well integrated with the public sector as the largest supplier of Commercial Cards under CCS’ Payment Solutions 2 framework, as well as one of two House Banks on the Government Banking contract.
Open Banking has been surging in use and popularity. According to a survey carried out by the bank 66% are familiar with Open Banking and report saving more than 150 hours a day via the tech’s use.
Elliff added: “With the continued adoption of Open Banking in the UK we are uniquely positioned to support the public sector with our award-winning Open Banking solutions.
“Individuals and businesses rely on NatWest to pay and get paid, which is why as a group we’re entrusted with one in four UK transactions. Our proven and secure infrastructure enables billions of payments every day. We combine the scale and resilience of a bank with the speed and innovation of a fintech to bring new payment services to our customers quickly and safely.”
