Payment Initiation API
Payment Initiation API
UK Open Banking Payment Initiation API (PIS) lets authenticated third parties initiate transfers from user bank accounts with user consent (A2A payments).
Bypasses card rails saving fees (cards 1.5-3%, A2A nearly free)
Every payment requires user SCA consent (adds checkout step)
PISP credentials + OAuth → POST /open-banking/v3.1/pisp/domestic-payment-consents creates payment intent → redirect user to bank for auth → POST /domestic-payments executes.
Uptime · 30-day window
About this API
PIS (Payment Initiation Service) is the "write" side of Open Banking — initiate transfers on behalf of authorized users. This directly challenges card payments (Visa/Mastercard): merchants accepting payment no longer route through card rails (paying 1.5-3% to issuer + acquirer + card network), instead using PIS to direct user's bank to transfer to merchant (nearly zero fees). Pros: merchant saves fees + funds arrive instantly (Faster Payments — seconds) + irreversible (no chargeback fraud). Cons: user must open bank app for SCA consent each time (more friction than saved card) + immature failure handling + poor UX for non-local users. Klarna, Trustly, TrueLayer (PISPs) are gradually penetrating European e-commerce but haven't fully replaced cards.
What you can build
- 1E-commerce checkout "direct bank pay" replacing card
- 2Bill payment apps
- 3B2B large-amount transfer automation
- 4Crypto fiat on-ramp
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
- Bypasses card rails saving fees (cards 1.5-3%, A2A nearly free)
- Funds arrive directly and irreversibly (no chargeback risk for merchants)
- Better UX (no card number entry)
Limitations
- Every payment requires user SCA consent (adds checkout step)
- Failure/dispute handling less mature than card
- Poor UX for users outside UK/Europe
Example request
curl https://openbanking.org.uk/<endpoint>Getting started
PISP credentials + OAuth → POST /open-banking/v3.1/pisp/domestic-payment-consents creates payment intent → redirect user to bank for auth → POST /domestic-payments executes.
FAQ
Can PIS payments be refunded?+
Cannot chargeback like cards. Refunds require merchant initiating return transfer. Suitable for trusted merchants, not one-time unknown sellers.
Technical details
- Auth type
- unknown
- Pricing
- unknown
- Protocols
- REST
- SDKs
- python, javascript, go, java
- Response time
- 1413 ms
- Last health check
- 5/12/2026, 7:38:01 AM
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UK Open Banking Event Notifications API lets TPPs (third parties) subscribe to bank event streams — async notifications for account changes, consent revocations, customer status changes.
UK Open Banking API is the UK's statutory banking API standard — third parties access user account data and initiate payments with user consent (PSD2 compliance).