Q&A: HSBC’s Phoebe Zhou, Anjali Jain on the key payments topics at OBExpo UK & Europe

In this Q&A, Phoebe Zhou, head of emerging payments, Europe at HSBC, and Anjali Jain, head of client solutions west, client connectivity at HSBC, explain what the key topics related to Open Banking payments are at this year’s Open Banking Expo UK & Europe, and discuss HSBC’s role in the Open Banking ecosystem.

1. In your view, what are the key issues or topics around Open Banking payments to be discussed at this year’s Expo?

• Variable recurring payments (VRP)

In July 2025, VRP accounted for over 14.25% of all UK Open Banking transactions. Volumes are growing 8.6% month on month. [1]. The following are likely to be hot topics:

(i) scaling VRPs as an alternative to Direct Debit;

(ii) subscriptions;

(iii) micropayments;

(iv) the liability and risk model,

(v) standardisation; and use experience challenges.

• Pay by bank / A2A payments replacing card rails

The ambition is to shift away from card-based rails towards direct bank payments via Open Banking. However, for now adoption of Pay by Bank/A2A remains low when compared to cards due to challenges such as:

(i) consumer awareness;

(ii) protection/ chargebacks;

(iii) merchant adoption incentives; and

(iv) technical friction.

• Fraud, security and liability

As payments shift to Open Banking rails, fraud risks, especially authorised push payment fraud, account takeover, and phishing pose a concern. We are working to mitigate these risks through verification APIs, transaction risk scoring, multi-party authentication, behaviour monitoring; Confirmation of Payee controls and a wider programme of education for our customers around impersonation fraud.

• Cross-border payments, currency conversion, and settlement

As Open Banking expands across borders, challenges in managing all aspects of cross-border payments will arise. These challenges include a broader discussion on pan-European Open Banking and Open Finance. Post-Brexit, the UK and EU are evolving their own regulatory regimes generating a discussion on harmonisation or divergence in areas such as fees, liability, consumer protections and standards.

• Innovation, adjacent rails: stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), programmability and smart contracts

The focus is likely to be:

(i) combining Open Banking payments with programmable money or CBDCs;

(iii) using smart contract or tokenised deposit for payments;

(iv) how Open Banking APIs might interface with digital money and new rails; and

(v) the architecture, API standards, certification regimes, and support for cross-border flows.

(vi) Ways of ensuring that different Open Banking/payment schemes (across nations and sectors) are interoperable (or at least avoiding fragmentation) will be a recurring concern.

• Trust and adoption from both a consumer and merchant perspective:

For Open Banking payments to achieve scale, it’s crucial that they earn the trust of end users and demonstrate a solid return on investment (low cost, fast settlement, better security) for merchants. Therefore, a key strategic challenge is overcoming low awareness, trust deficits and resistance to change.

• Data governance, consent and trust

As payments and financial data sharing become more intertwined, particularly with Open Finance, we must address key issues around customer consent, data minimisation, revocation of consent, misuse, and governance framework.

2. The UK government has outlined its National Payments Vision and you’re taking part in a panel about the future of payments at the Expo. What’s your key message here?

The National Payments Vision frames payments not as a narrow financial service issue, but as part of the foundational infrastructure for commerce, innovation and economic competitiveness.

HSBC’s key message: payments should be seen as the infrastructure and strategic enabler of economic growth.

The aim for the UK payments ecosystem is to be reliable, world leading, delivered on next generation technology and offering choice to consumers and business.

Key points of the National Payments Vision:

• Regulatory clarity, predictability and coordination – it envisages a clearer, more proportionate and predictable regulatory framework, with greater coordination amongst the regulators at an international level.
• Open Banking/Open Finance as a foundation – Open Banking is positioned as a core building block – not just for data sharing, but for enabling A2A payments, new payment propositions and the future Open Finance architecture. It signals that Open Banking payments must become ubiquitous, with appropriate commercial models and consumer protections. Additionally, it emphasises the need for a long-term regulatory framework for Open Banking to develop growth and innovation.
• Infrastructure resilience, modernisation and choices in rails – a central pillar is having payment systems that are resilient, scalable, interoperable, and capable of supporting new innovations (e.g. open APIs, real-time payments, and new overlays). It emphasises the importance of offering consumers and merchants a variety of payment methods to suit their needs.

3. Banks are key players in the Open Banking ecosystem. Why is it so important for HSBC/you to be part of the conversations at the Expo?

HSBC is an AISP, a PISP and an ASPSP . Within the Open Banking ecosystem, financial institutions, like HSBC, remain integral to the safety, resilience and innovation of the next generation of payments; Open Banking payments will only scale if banks, such as HSBC, lead the way in helping to get the liability, trust and commercial model right. Financial institutions, like HSBC, will help shape the next generation of payments by maintaining and developing their presence across AISP, PISP and ASPSP roles. HSBC is helping its customers transition smoothly; allowing them to capture the benefits of Open Finance.

The Open Banking Expo is where regulators, innovators and incumbents converge – our presence here shows that HSBC is committed to co-creating the future of payments.

4. What have been the biggest payments development or innovation since last year’s Expo and how has HSBC capitalised on these?

Turning Open Payments combined with data into real, customer-facing products and experiences

Increasingly, HSBC sees corporate customers (mainly e-commerce and new economy businesses) integrate data with open payment systems. Such an approach aims to enhance the delivery of customer facing propositions and improve user experience.

HSBC’s Pay by Bank service uses Open Payments and real-time payment rails which is ideal for customers looking to collect money from sales via e-commerce or pay by link channels. Also, with HSBC’s Pay by Bank service, customers can leverage enriched data and advanced technology, such as APIs and webhooks offered by HSBC’s Treasury APIs. Corporate and institutional customers are notified in real time of incoming funds which helps them release goods in real time. As well, HSBC can support our clients when they return funds, thus enhancing the end-to-end experience for their customers. HSBC takes pride in collaborating with customers to harness the power of open payments, enriched data, and advanced technology to ensure customer satisfaction. As businesses evolve their models and customer journeys, increasingly they are leveraging innovations in payments, data, and technology to offer a seamless sales and refund experience.

Expansion into markets beyond the UK

HSBC is actively expanding its Pay by Bank product to markets beyond the UK to help our multi-national customers to expand their business via this cost effective and more efficient settlement solution.

Strategic investments

Since 2019, HSBC and Token.io have collaborated to enhance HSBC’s Open Payments offering. In June 2025, HSBC announced a strategic investment in Token.io which showcases HSBC’s commitment to leverage the fintech’s capability and bring the technology and Open Banking benefits to HSBC’s customers. HSBC aims to expand the application of Open Payments to include various services such as loan repayments and savings top-ups. HSBC’s investment in Token.io demonstrates the shared ambition of making Pay by Bank the mainstream method of payment in Europe and the UK.

5. What infrastructure and partnerships are critical to deploying Open Finance use cases?

Open Payments Infrastructure, HSBC’s Global Client Connectivity and technology stack, as well as HSBC’s partnership with fintechs and customers are all critical to deploying Open Finance use cases.

Open Finance is the extension of an Open Banking-like data sharing process to a wider range of financial products, such as savings, investments, pensions and insurance. Open Finance lets customers authorise use of their data by other service providers, thus enabling the development and use of new and/or improved products and services. The aim is to give customers greater control over their finances and to provide financial services providers with a more holistic view of a consumer’s financial circumstances which, in turn, will facilitate the offer of new, more tailored and improved services to consumers. The same is true for businesses: Open Finance will help business customers make more informed decisions about business opportunities and client needs.

An area we see Open Finance being useful is in securing confirmations from third parties to queries from auditors which, we have observed from customers, is often a difficult and lengthy task. The frequent lack of, or delay in, responses adds to the workload of our customers and can delay the completion of audits and the preparation of accounts. This becomes a more pressing issue when deadlines for reporting are fast approaching. Open Banking and API technology can offer a solution to this seemingly common audit issue by providing secure, near instant bank confirmation that is cost effective and automated.

HSBC works with its partners and customers to leverage Open Payments infrastructure. These partnerships provide comprehensive solutions that help facilitate better and more comprehensive end-to-end journeys for customers.

6. In five years’ time, how will the payments landscape in the UK look?

In five years’ time we predict UK payments will be:

• faster;
• cheaper;
• safer
• built on A2A rails;
• enriched by data and identity layers; and
• complemented by digital money, including tokenised deposit innovations.

[1] Source: HSBC – API performance stats – Open Banking

Legal Disclaimer: The contents provided for information and opinion only and does not constitute legal regulatory or investment advice. Neither HSBC nor its affiliates accept any liability arising from reliance on the information contained herein.

HSBC is an Event Partner of Open Banking Expo UK & Europe 2025, taking place at the Business Design Centre in London on 21-22 October. Find out more and register to attend here.

Catch Candice Andrews, client coverage director, treasury coverage, global payments solutions at HSBC; David McHenry, managing director, head of treasury & trade solutions at HSBC; George Miltiadous, Open Banking director at HSBC; Reem Kanaan, product manager, emerging payments at HSBC; Sophia Zhang, product manager at HSBC; and Sovon Chatterjee, director, product management at HSBC, speaking across the two-day Expo. Check out the agenda here.