Open Banking pioneer, Nuapay, powered by Sentenial, today announces it is extending its open banking payment capabilities to German and Italian banks.
Nuapay’s expansion will enable German and Italian partners to offer open banking payment solutions, powering seamless account-2-account payments for their customers.
This rollout connects 308 banks in Italy and 435 banks in Germany to Nuapay’s Open Banking platform, connecting 134 million European accounts and reaching 98% and 70% of payers in each country. This adds to Nuapay’s existing open banking connections in the UK and France, covering more than 90% of payers in those markets. In coming months, Nuapay’s payment integrations will be extended to other European markets, including Spain, making it one of Europe’s leading open banking payment platforms.
Germany has long shown a preference for cash over digital alternatives. However, the pandemic saw a shift in consumer preferences indicating that the market is ripe for innovation.
Meanwhile in Italy, even before the pandemic hit, the government had been working to increase citizens’ use of digital payments to tackle fraud associated with cash. Pre-pandemic, 86% of Italian transactions were made using notes and coins, according to central bank estimates. However, research shows that the market has seen a staggering 80% increase in mobile payments in 2020 compared to 2019. The government also encouraged consumers to utilise digital payments with its Christmas cashback campaign. The cashback initiative launched over Christmas asked users to register their payment methods on the IO app - a new government app to provide access to public services and benefits - to receive an automatic refund of 10% on each transaction from the state.
Nick Raper, Director of Nuapay, comments: “Enabling access to secure and efficient Open Banking payments within Germany and Italy comes at an opportune time as the pandemic puts the final nail in the cash-coffin. Access to Nuapay’s Open Banking connections, via our platform, will allow businesses to avoid high card payment fees and deliver more secure payment options to customers. As Nuapay is one of the only Open Banking providers with a fully inclusive payment solution, including integrated money movement, refunds, recurring payments, instalment plans and full reconciliations, partners are empowered to deliver innovative payment experiences to customers, and expand their service offerings.”
Nuapay’s Open Banking platform was also the recipient of the ““Best Use of Open Banking in Merchant Payments Ecosystem” at the recent Merchant Payments Ecosystem (MPE) Conference, traditionally held in Berlin each year. The award, announced at the virtual conference on 23rd February 2021, recognises the features and functionality built into the Nuapay Open Banking platform that enables Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Merchants to reap the benefits of open banking payments.
Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to growing its payment business across Europe, Nuapay has secured a second EU Payment Institution licence from the ACPR - the French banking regulator. The licence enables Nuapay to continue offering its payment services in a post-Brexit world to in excess of 1,000 EU clients.