In the wake of a failed takeover by Visa, open banking platform Plaid is making a move into account-to-account payments.
The firm has put together an ecosystem of payment partners in North America and Europe - including Square, Dwolla and Currencycloud - that will integrate Plaid's connectivity technology into their processing systems for bank payments.
This means that companies can add a pay-by-bank option at checkout, with the funds transfered by the ecosystem partners.
Plaid says that account-based payments are set to be at the centre of the shift to digital wallets, helping to save businesses a fortune in credit card fees.
In January, Visa abandoned its planned $5.3 billion takeover of Plaid after the US Justice Department filed suit to block the combination over competition concerns.
The DoJ determined that the acquisition of Plaid by Visa would eliminate a nascent competitive threat to the card scheme's own business because Plaid was planning its own payment service.