Shopping online and paying directly from your own bank account: This is what's behind the new payment method Pay by Bank! This way of paying, also known as Instant Payment, is particularly popular in Germany: According to a study of the European Central Bank (ECB) published in 2023 on payment behavior in Germany, 80 percent of the respondents already had access to real-time transfers. The trend is rising because: According to a decision by the European Union, all European banks must be able to offer real-time transfers from 2025.

Payrexx – the leading payment provider for SMEs from Switzerland – has recognized this trend and therefore set itself the goal of giving its merchants access to this promising customer segment. Together with Tink, the leading open banking platform in Europe, Payrexx has developed the payment method Pay by Bank for its merchants. With this, customers from Germany and Austria can quickly and easily pay in Swiss online shops – directly from their bank account without needing a credit card, a debit card, or, like with TWINT, an application.

More information on the functionality of the payment method can be found in the Payrexx documentation.

Payrexx and Tink – a strong partnership

“The world is growing closer together. It is therefore all the more important for Swiss merchants to be able to receive transactions from abroad quickly and inexpensively,” says Ivan Schmid, Managing Director and CEO of Payrexx. “The Pay by Bank payment method is ideal for this: It combines an intuitive and quick payment process with maximum security and the lowest possible transaction fees.”

To ensure the reliability of the new payment method and to address as large an audience as possible within the DACH region, Payrexx has brought on board a leading partner in this area: Tink. The company, founded in 2012, is now part of Visa and pursues the mission of enabling consumers to comfortably use their own financial data in various applications. In doing so, they offer targeted tools for fintechs and banks to build and improve financial services.

“We are pleased that Payrexx is now the first provider in Switzerland to use Pay by Bank to leverage the strength of our open banking technology. This collaboration allows us to offer merchants and customers a fast and convenient payment option that meets high security standards – and does so directly from their account,” adds Thomas Gmelch, Director Payments Sales CE at Tink.

What advantages does Pay by Bank offer buyers?

Paying via real-time transfer is gaining increasing popularity in Germany as well as other regions of the DACH area for good reason. The payment method offers users several benefits:

• Secure transfer: Not only does Payrexx adhere to the highest security standards, but Tink also handles customer data with the greatest care as an ISO 27001-certified company.

• Quick and easy: Those who choose Pay by Bank as the payment method are directly forwarded to the e-banking of their bank, where the payment only needs to be confirmed. The annoying typing of card details is completely eliminated.

• Overview of your own finances: Since the amount is immediately transferred from the bank account to Payrexx, buyers do not have to deal with open invoices or pending amounts, but can immediately see how much they have spent and how much is left on their account.

• One payment method suffices: A credit or debit card is usually associated with recurring costs, with mobile wallets you have to remember another login or even download an app. Buyers save all this trouble with Pay by Bank.

What advantages does Pay by Bank offer merchants?

The new payment method from Payrexx is particularly interesting for online merchants targeting an international clientele and looking for a cost-effective alternative to conventional payment methods. In particular, Pay by Bank offers merchants the following advantages:

• Low transaction costs: Compared to other payment methods, Pay by Bank boasts the lowest possible transaction fees. Merchants with a Payrexx subscription pay only 0.50 percent – and this for international transactions, which are usually charged up to 3.4 percent.

• Seamless checkout process: Most online purchases are abandoned during the payment process. Therefore, it is all the more important to make this quick and easy. Pay by Bank offers both by keeping the hurdles for buyers as low as possible.

• Low fraud risk: By debiting the payable amount in real-time from the customer's account, the risk of payment failures is minimized. The high security standards of Payrexx and Tink also ensure minimal fraud risk.

• Improved shopping experience: Paying is already an annoying matter. Therefore, it is all the more important to increase the well-being of buyers as much as possible – for instance, by placing them in the familiar and trusted environment of their own e-banking and enabling them to pay within a few clicks.

This is Tink

Tink, A Visa Solution, is a leading open banking platform supporting some of the world's largest financial institutions. Tink offers its customers payment, banking, and credit solutions – whether through account-to-account payments, attracting new users, improving risk decisions, or developing attractive financial management tools.

Tink is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Visa and was founded in 2012 in Stockholm. With over 13,000 connections to financial institutions, Tink's and Visa's open banking solutions are now available in 20 markets. Tink empowers its partners to offer data-driven experiences, reducing complexity for millions of consumers around the globe.