Banking-as-a-service platform Railsbank is to provide customers with embedded access to Open Banking services for account-to-account payments from Plaid.
Under the partnership, Railsbank customers - which include the likes of up-and-coming fintechs such as Sync. and ikigai - will be able to seamlessly offer A2A Payment Initiation to consumers and SMEs, offering a lower cost alternative to cards.
Nigel Verdon, co-founder and CEO of Railsbank, says: “This partnership is all about making it easier for any company, or brand, to embed finance into their customer journey. Together we are making it simpler for any company to take advantage of the golden opportunity that changing consumer demand and Open Banking presents, enabling them to deliver innovative financial services that attract and retain customers, and boost their bottom lines.”
An early customer for the new feature is investment management app ikigai, which will be using Payment Initiation to smooth the transfer of cash from a user’s bank account to their investment account.
Maurizio Kaiser, co-founder of ikigai, says: "While the benefits are clear, for challenger players such as ourselves, Open Banking can mean a significant operational hurdle with substantial time investment needed to meet them. With Railsbank’s, and now Plaid’s operational support, we’ve been able to tap into those benefits, allowing our clients to easily top up their accounts through Open Banking, while still focusing our full attention on ikigai’s growth.”