TrueLayer, which has recently added eBay to its cap table, believes that big retailers will embrace pay by bank tech.
The CEO of a prominent UK open banking fintech says the adoption of pay by bank, which is an alternative to card payments, is only “at the starting line”.
TrueLayer CEO and co-founder Francesco Simoneschi was speaking on the Tech.eu podcast, where he spoke about the evolution of open banking in the UK, the adoption of pay by bank, TrueLayer’s deal with Amazon, and what lies ahead for TrueLayer.
TrueLayer, which is backed by Tiger Global and Stripe, leverages open banking technology to allow customers to make pay by bank online transactions, which is an alternative to going through card giant intermediaries Visa and Mastercard.
TrueLayer, which laid off around a quarter of its staff in 2024, recently received “strategic investment” from eBay.
TrueLayer’s merchant partners include Amazon, Just Eat Takeaway, Revolut and Coinbase.
TrueLayer believes that Amazon’s adoption of the tech signifies broadly where consumer behaviour is heading.
Simoneschi said: “We are at the starting line when it comes to large retailers adopting pay by bank.”
Asked if it would be a good result for TrueLayer if Amazon acquired the startup, Simoneschi said, “I would say no. Personally, I am having a lot of fun being an independent company.”
On future retail adoption of pay by bank, he said: “We see a lot of demand. Whenever there is a high frequency of the relationship, there is always an opportunity in the form of loyalty.
“Many of the retailers have big loyalty schemes. I think a key element of that will be how you link up pay by bank to merchants’ loyalty programmes.”
The CEO also discussed VRPs (variable recurring payments), which many see as the next big thing in open banking, the importance of sovereign payment infrastructure, and TrueLayer’s plans for 2026.