Consumer awareness is one of the biggest barriers faced by companies hoping to take a new product or technology to market, something Open Banking providers are all too familiar with in recent years.
Financial stakeholders and the government alike are keen to see more adoption of Open Banking, with the latter seeing more widespread use of the tech as critical to driving British financial services, and therefore the country’s economy, further forward.
Consumer unfamiliarity and perhaps even apprehension towards new payments technologies could be the biggest hurdle for both payments firms and the government to bypass – but some data suggests substantial progress has been made.
According to research conducted by Yaspa, a payments technology company, 55% of British adults are familiar with the term ‘Pay by Bank’. This is a widely used name for Open Banking products, offered by prominent companies like Trustly and TrueLayer.
This does mean of course that 45% of UK adults are unfamiliar, but having a majority aware of Open Banking products is surely good for providers. The data comes amid Open Banking suppliers reporting an upsurge in use – for example, Trustly reports that many UK taxpayers are using its platform to file returns with the HMRC tax office.
Kate Marsden, CMO at Yaspa, said: “Open banking has the potential to revolutionise payments, offering faster, more secure, and cost-effective transactions. However, our research highlights a key challenge: naming conventions matter.
“‘Pay by Bank’ is gaining traction, but its meaning remains ambiguous to many consumers. The Yaspa Index 2025 serves as a benchmark for industry awareness and provides valuable insights for businesses looking to optimise their payment offerings.”
Open Banking proponents still have a few other hurdles to cross, however, according to Yaspa’s research. Security and ease of use were the most commonly cited priorities for consumers in the firm’s survey.
The question of ease of use will likely only be solved by further adoption and promotion, the latter hinging heavily on education. This is a factor that has been emphasised to Payment Expert by the likes of NatWest Group and its Bank of APis subsidiary, as well as The Payments Association trade body.
Ultimately, the more customers use Open Banking, the more familiar they will be and the ease of use will improve. A comparison could be made with when contactless payments were first introduced around 10 years ago. Many payees were unfamiliar and even apprehensive towards the tech at first, but now contactless is used daily by countless millions across the UK.
Security is an even more pressing concern though, given that Open Banking/Pay by Bank depends on data sharing to function. Consumers will need assurance that data is being protected, especially in certain use cases such as in the betting sector, where Open Banking has been touted as a solution to customer affordability.
This too has been noted by the government. Joe Garner, the author of the Future of Payments Review (published last year), emphasised a need for more consumer protection around Open Banking, and this has been included in the government’s National Payments Vision.
Open Banking and Pay by Bank are gaining traction in the UK, that is undeniable. It is also undeniable though that more work needs to be done on areas like consumer protection, particularly around data, to ensure the framework to support a further rollout is robust and secure.
