Ecospend joins PIMFA WealthTech as an innovation partner to develop new open financing solutions for the wealth sector
Ecospend, the UK’s leading Open Banking provider recently acquired by Trustly, has joined PIMFA WealthTech, the digital marketplace and industry network created to drive innovation and improve collaboration between WealthTechs and wealth management firms, to provide a proof of concept “Pay -by-Bank”. ” solution to its members.
Ecospend’s solution will allow customers of PIMFA WealthTech members to make payments directly to their accounts more easily and securely and without the need for a card.
The Account-to-Account or “Pay-by-Bank” solution initiates a direct bank transfer, removing the need to enter card details when completing a payment, significantly reducing the chance of data entry errors and risk of card fraud for wealth management clients. The payment is authorized via the customer’s chosen online or mobile banking service, which typically uses biometric ID, creating a seamless and secure payment experience that requires no data input.
The “Pay by Bank” method also bypasses card networks and interchange fees, providing cost savings as well as efficiency – the automated user experience removes the risk of human error and saves the time required to reconcile manual bank transfers.
After assessing the open banking market, PIMFA selected WealthTech Ecospend as an innovation partner based on the quality of the technology and services and the robustness of the solution that has already been demonstrated through the partnership with HMRC.
Ecospend has handled record volumes from HMRC, having passed £12.5 billion since 2021. In addition, it has developed a specialist service for the wealth industry and last year was selected as a supplier to one of the UK’s largest investment platforms.
Keith Philips, CEO of PIMFA WealthTech, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ecospend to PIMFA WealthTech and believe that their ‘Pay by Bank’ technology solution will prove to be very popular in the wealth management community. Not only does the solution significantly reduce the risk of fraud, it also significantly reduces transaction costs for businesses and provides an immediate transfer of funds. I am sure that many wealth managers and investment platforms will take an immediate interest in this solution and look forward to working with Ecospend to offer this solution to the industry.”
James Hickman, Chief Commercial Officer at Ecospend, commented: “We are delighted to be working with PIMFA WealthTech to develop ground-breaking Open Banking payment options for members. This is a great opportunity for the entire industry given the importance and reach of PIMFA WealthTech and we are delighted to be working with the market leader – it is the perfect answer to changing consumer behavior and digital adoption.”
