Customer Experience Guidelines

Payment Initiation Services

This version is:

Published 2 years ago 21 Oct 2021

One of the primary ambitions of the Customer Experience Guidelines is to provide simplification and consistency throughout each stage of the Open Banking implementation. As such, we have defined a core set of payment initiation journeys.

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Open Banking API specifications support Payment Initiation Services (PIS) that enable a PISP to initiate a payment order, with the PSU’s explicit consent, from their online payment account held at their ASPSP. The PISP is then further able to retrieve the status of a payment order. This section describes how each of the Participants (PISPs and ASPSPs) in the delivery of these services can optimise the customer experience for these services. Furthermore, it provides some clarifications to these Participants on the usage of the APIs which are not covered by the technical specifications, and some best practice guidelines for implementation of the customer journeys.

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Please note that ASPSPs do not need to support the initiation of certain payment methods described in this section by a PISP, where the ASPSP does not support such transactions through any of their own online channels (such as future dated foreign transactions and bulk payment files).

If the customer is able to initiate, for example, international payments, recurring transactions or a batch file of payments online, they should also be able to do so via a PISP, irrespective of the channel the customer has used to access the PISP1.[1]

Single Domestic Payments

Account Selection at PISP

PSUs can initiate, by providing their consent to PISPs, an instruction to their ASPSPs to make a one-off payment for a specific amount to a specific payee.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Account Selection in PISP – Supplementary Info

In some scenarios, an additional step in ASPSPs' journeys may be required to display supplementary information to PSUs. ASPSPs should determine the situations where this supplementary information is required, having regard to the principle that parity should be maintained between Open Banking journeys and ASPSPs’ online channel journeys.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Single Domestic Payments – BACS and CHAPS

In some scenarios, an additional step in ASPSPs' journeys may be required to display supplementary information to PSUs. ASPSPs should determine the situations where this supplementary information is required, having regard to the principle that parity should be maintained between Open Banking journeys and ASPSPs’ online channel journeys.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Account Selection at ASPSP

There are cases where the payment order submitted by PISPs to ASPSPs is incomplete, such as where the PSU’s account selection has not yet occurred.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Scheduled Payments – Future Dated

PSUs can setup, through PISPs, an instruction to their ASPSPs to make a one-off payment for a specific amount to a specific payee on a specific future date.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Other Payments

Standing Orders

PSUs can setup, through PISPs, an instruction to their ASPSPs to make a series of payments of a specific amount to a specific payee on a number of specified future dates or on a regular basis.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

International Payments

PSUs can initiate, through PISPs, single international payments from their GBP or foreign currency payment accounts. Payments can be made in any currency and to any country, using a number of routing options in order to meet the priority required, provided that functionality is available to PSUs when making international payments directly from their online payment account.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Bulk / Batch Payments

Business PSUs can initiate, through PISPs, bulk/batch payments allowing them to make multiple payments from their payment accounts.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Multi-authorisation Payments

PSUs can setup, through PISPs, payments which require multiple parties with delegated user authority to authorise a payment order. This functionality can be used by ASPSPs for any payment initiation that requires multiple authorities (including consumers, SMEs and Corporates).

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Confirmation of Funds – PISP

PISPs can request confirmation of funds on a PSU's payment account for the amount necessary for the execution of the payment transaction initiated through the PISP. ASPSPs must respond to such request from a PISP with an immediate ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ confirmation and should take into account the same information.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021

Payment Refunds

In cases where the PSU selects their account at the ASPSP as shown in the journey Single Domestic Payments – a/c selection @ ASPSP, the PISP may not be able to obtain the PSU's account details (sort code and account number) from the PSU directly within their consent journey.

This version was published 2 Years & 11 Months ago 21 Oct 2021