ai’s high availability, high performance, PCI compliant, omni channel payment gateway, with integrated fraud prevention, will now include Mastercard’s PbBa as a new online checkout option. PbBa will be available to all merchants and end users, alongside all existing major card schemes, including: Visa, Amex, Masterpass, Mastercard Instalments and Apple Pay.

Simon Vincent, Head of Product at ai, comments: “PbBa strengthens ai’s commitment to delivering frictionless, secure payments for the mobile age, through our existing payment gateway. We are delighted to be working with Mastercard to bring this new, convenient payment option to market. PbBa leverages the UK’s Faster Payments service to allow shoppers to pay retailers directly from their bank account. No new payment details. No new passwords. This offers users total control from their existing bank app.”

PbBa, which was created by Vocalink, a Mastercard company, simply uses the information that the consumer has safely stored in their banking app to process payments; removing the need for a separate PIN, password or card number. Avoiding the risks involved with other payment methods, transactions take place instantly and the balance is immediately updated. Verification is handled by the user’s own, trusted banking app, which meets PSD2 standards and requirements for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA).

Jonathan Wood, Senior Vice President, Consumer Applications at Mastercard, said: “Pay by Bank app has been designed to offer a simple user experience and improve the checkout experience. At the same time class leading security is at its heart, eliminates most third-party fraud.

“PbBa is also quick, taking just a few seconds to make a payment, with funds moving instantly from the customer’s bank account to the settlement account of the merchant. Offering consumers a simple, speedy and secure checkout and payment option. We are thrilled to be partnering with ai corporation to bring this revolutionary way to pay and be paid to their customers.”

Mastercard and ai Corporation have been in a strategic partnership since 2015. Today’s exciting development extends both parties’ secure payment capabilities, across all customer contact channels, creating a unified experience.

Dr Mark Goldspink, CEO of ai, says: “aiGateway, alongside our cloud-based payment landscape and European Money Licence, means we can provide a wider range of payment facilitator services for our business partners, allowing them the luxury of rapidly launching new alternative payment types into the market place. aiGateway is a truly end-to-end offering, which uses “state of the art” machine learning to manage omni-channel payment transactions securely, via a cloud-based platform.”

“aiGateway is suitable for companies of all sizes, from SMEs to multi-national corporations. aiGateway is fully compliant with all national regulations, while maintaining international acquirer access. The platform uses state-of-the-art technology, which delivers a user experience that is reliable, easy to use, and complementary to day-to-day transactional needs.”