GoCardless unveils two Open Banking features in Germany

Direct bank payment fintech GoCardless has launched two Open Banking features in Germany, with the rollout of ‘instant bank pay’ and ‘verified mandates’, which is a fraud prevention feature.

The fintech launched verified mandates in the UK earlier this year.

The feature combines Open Banking with direct debit to stop payment fraud before it happens, and works by automatically and instantly verifying customer information as part of the process of setting up a new direct debit mandate.

Meanwhile, the fintech’s instant bank pay feature will enable German merchants to collect payments directly from a customer’s bank account with instant authorisation, either by building the feature straight into their checkout flow or by sending a payment request with a link to pay.

According to GoCardless, the Open Banking feature represents “a new breed” of instant payments in Germany and addresses an issue that is particularly acute for recurring revenue businesses.

GoCardless’ own research shows that 88% of merchants in Germany with this model have a need for collecting additional one-off payments.

Alexandra Chiaramonti, general manager of Continental Europe at GoCardless, said the launch of instant bank pay and verified mandates will enable German merchants to “get ahead of the curve” as it is projected there will be 64 million active users of Open Banking in Europe by 2024.

“We’re excited to offer this new technology to help them tackle a range of challenges, from high card fees to payment fraud, while at the same time offering consumers a preferred, more secure, and seamless way to pay.”

GoCardless will rollout instant bank pay and verified mandates across Europe later this year.

It has already announced a variable recurring payment (VRP) agreement and pilot with NatWest Group in the UK and its first VRP customer, Nude.