Xero chooses GoCardless to integrate Open Banking payments

Direct bank payment provider GoCardless has partnered with global small business platform Xero to launch its ‘Instant Bank Pay’ feature to Xero’s UK customers.

The new Open Banking feature is directly integrated into the GoCardless global payment platform and will enable Xero users to receive one-off bank-to-bank payments from new and existing customers.

Once the feature is available to Xero’s UK customers, they will be able to accept one-off account-to-account payments and receive instant confirmation, with payment authorisation completed in seconds.

They will also benefit from one-day settlement and access to recurring and instant one-off payments through one provider.

“One of the biggest challenges for small businesses is the time it takes to generate and issue invoices and then chase payments using multiple systems,” Leigh O’Neill, EGM, global financial services at Xero, said.

“We recognise that integrated online payments are not only making a huge difference when it comes to saving time, but also in helping businesses look professional and credible by providing multiple payment options for different types of customer needs. The GoCardless Instant Bank Pay feature is another way Xero is making it easier for businesses to seamlessly collect payments from their customers.”

Recent research by GoCardless revealed that 85% of recurring revenue businesses have a need to collect one-off payments, such as a supplementary fee during tax season.

Duncan Barrigan of GoCardless

Duncan Barrigan, chief product officer and chief growth officer at GoCardless, said: “It’s been a pleasure to work hand-in-hand with Xero over the past six years, and we’re strongly aligned in our mission to help small businesses take the pain out of getting paid.

“This integration is the first step to offering Xero’s customers in the UK access to the next era of bank payments through Instant Bank Pay, making their payments faster, cheaper and easier.”

Merchants can add the Instant Bank Pay option straight into their checkout flow or send a payment request with a link to pay.

Earlier this month, GoCardless announced its acquisition of Latvian Open Banking data provider Nordigen.

GoCardless’ Barrigan recently appeared as a guest on the Open Banking Expo Unplugged podcast to discuss variable recurring payments. Listen to the episode in full here.