On 24th of march, Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo, published a piece talking about Pay-by-Bank and its role in the shift toward open banking and account-to-account payments.

Access the full text here.

Summary

Pay-by-Bank is presented as an emerging open banking payment mechanism that enables direct account-to-account transfers between consumers and merchants through regulated API infrastructure. The publication examines its role as a practical implementation of open finance, emphasizing its potential to reduce transaction costs, enhance settlement speed, and improve payment security by removing reliance on card networks. It further situates this model within the broader evolution of UK open banking, driven by regulatory reforms that have enabled third-party payment initiation. Despite its operational advantages, the analysis highlights structural limitations related to consumer protection, particularly the absence of chargeback mechanisms and established liability frameworks. The work concludes that widespread adoption depends on achieving parity in trust, regulation, and user experience with incumbent card-based systems.

Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo is a Professor of Fintech History, Global Trade Entrepeneurship & International Business of Fintech in the Northumbria University. Although Professor Bátiz-Lazo has made contributions to the business and economic history of Latin America (mainly Mexico) and Spain, as well as to accounting history, his main area of research has been the impact of computer technology on retail banking. This has included touching on contemporary issues around the cashless economy, retail payments, globalization and international trade. Research is currently under way into the emergence of FinTech as a global phenomenon.