Tink is partnering with pioneering subscription payment platform SlimPay to enable seamless account-to-account payments across Europe.
SlimPay customers – including Deezer, EDF, Nespresso, and Vattenfall – will be able to offer open banking payments as a faster, more secure way to set up a direct debit.
The partnership lets SlimPay offer one ubiquitous payment method across Europe, enabling SlimPay merchants to do business across Europe without managing multiple local payment methods.
SlimPay helps merchants across Europe – including Deezer, EDF, Nespresso, and Vattenfall among others –to offer seamless subscription payment experiences. By partnering with Tink, SlimPay can now offer open banking payments as an alternative way to set up a direct debit. The new solution, SlimCollect, lets users connect their bank account in a few seconds without having to share any sensitive information, since they authenticate directly with their bank. This means a safer payment experience for consumers and a lower compliance burden for merchants.
As one of the first payment platforms to launch SEPA Direct Debit in France, SlimPay has long been a pioneer in recurring payments. And now they’re using open banking to further simplify subscription payments for merchants across Europe. Choosing Tink as their partner lets SlimPay offer a ubiquitous payment solution across the entire SEPA zone, meaning their merchants can do business in 30+ European markets without the complexity of managing multiple local payment methods.
‘Our partnership with Tink means SlimPay can leverage open banking across several markets using one single partner,’ says SlimPay CEO Jérôme Traisnel. ‘And by launching SlimCollect, we offer merchants a secure account-to-account payments service with which to collect their recurring revenue. We're excited to see what we can achieve with Tink in the short and long term, as open banking goes mainstream throughout Europe.’
Combining payment initiation services (PIS) and direct debit in one solution is what makes this partnership particularly innovative. Direct debits are relatively frictionless once they’ve been set up, but setting one up requires the user to complete a direct debit mandate. And that’s a potential moment of friction. Not only does the user have to manually switch between apps and punch in their banking details, a time-consuming and error-prone process, but doing so can mean sharing sensitive information with a third party – potentially arousing security concerns.
This is where open banking comes in. By combining PIS and direct debits, SlimPay can streamline the direct debit setup process. End-users will make an initial payment through PIS, meaning they’re automatically taken to their banking app to authenticate in real time using biometrics like a fingerprint or Face ID. Once the user connects their bank account they can then be switched seamlessly over to a direct debit.
Currently, as of August 2022, it’s not possible to set up variable, repeated, automated payments through open banking. So it’s not a substitute for direct debit – yet. This is about to change in the UK though, with the arrival of Variable Recurring Payments (VRP), and soon after in Europe thanks to similar initiatives. SlimPay’s partnership with Tink, however, shows how open banking can simplify recurring payments for merchants already today. And it points to a future where open banking becomes an equally low-cost but more seamless alternative to direct debits altogether.
Deutsche Bahn has teamed up with Tink for Account Check - enabling instant, easy and secure account onboarding. DB Connect, part of the Deutsche Bahn Group, runs some of Germany’s largest modern mobility sharing services including ‘Flinkster’, Germany’s largest car sharing network and ‘Call a Bike’, one of the biggest bike sharing systems in the country.
We spoke to Jack about working with some of the largest financial institutions in the world, optimising our banking relationships together with Visa, and what excites him about the future in our industry.
Livia Kathi, Tink’s Product Solutions Director, is spearheading our Pay by Bank drive in the challenging realm of ecommerce. Learn more about the crucial factors of user experience, building trust, and incentives.
Contact our team to learn more about what we can help you build – or create an account to get started right away.