How to optimise Pay by Bank at checkout (and what happens when you do)

Offering Pay by Bank at checkout is one thing. Optimising it is another. The integration is a solved problem; how many customers actually choose it comes down to the checkout itself. In my experience – having reviewed hundreds of checkouts – there are five practical changes that drive consumer adoption and, in turn, conversion.

1. Placement: make it a primary option

Position is everything. Pay by Bank should appear as a primary payment option, at the same level as cards; not below them, and not concealed behind a ‘more options’ toggle. Behaviour at checkout is habitual: a customer who does not see an alternative immediately defaults to the card they always use. Every position further down the list costs you selection share, and with it the interchange savings on each payment that would otherwise have switched.

The second placement is higher in value and frequently overlooked: decline recovery. Issuer decline rates on card-not-present transactions are far from trivial, and a declined card is often the end of the journey. Presenting Pay by Bank at that exact moment – as the way to complete the purchase rather than a return to a failed form – gives the customer a route through. Merchants that do this have recovered up to a 20% uplift in conversion on otherwise-lost transactions.

Where your integration allows, favour an embedded checkout over a hosted redirect. Keeping the customer within your own environment removes a context switch, preserves your branding, and closes off the drop-off points a redirect introduces.

2. Terminology: standardise ‘Pay by Bank’

Language at the point of payment carries more weight than its length suggests. Standardise ‘Pay by Bank’ across every surface – checkout, product pages, confirmation emails. Terms such as ‘open banking’ or ‘bank transfer’ are accurate, but they’re unfamiliar to many consumers, and an unfamiliar label introduces doubt at the moment you most need certainty.

With some merchants, we support the application of ‘Pay by Bank’ with a single line of reassurance such as ‘no card needed’. It preempts a common question first-time users have, alludes to a lack of friction, and costs nothing to add.

3. Trust signals: show the banks customers recognise

First-time users hesitate when the outcome is unknown to them. Recognisable imagery resolves that quickly. If you have the space, show the icons of the major banks beside ‘Pay by Bank’. Your customers already recognise them, confirming in their minds that the method is established and works with the account they hold. A ‘bank icons’ version of our Pay by Bank badge is available as part of our checkout branding downloads.

Where space is tight, a single, generic bank icon – again, available to download here – is a sound alternative. It still reads as safe and familiar, without relying on a payments badge shoppers may not yet recognise.

4. The explainer: use the space to set expectations

The area beneath the payment option is working space, and worth using deliberately – both to reassure and to move volume onto faster, lower-cost rails. A single line can carry the load: “Instant, secure, no card details required”.

For first-time users, a short pre-redirect screen of two or three steps, setting out what happens next, measurably reduces drop-off. Abandonment at this point tends to come from uncertainty about an unfamiliar flow rather than reluctance to pay. Showing the customer the path removes it.

The same space can introduce value the customer realises later. Where relevant, framing the method around a downstream benefit – for instance, “Pay from your bank account and receive instant payouts when you withdraw” – links the payment choice to an outcome they will want.

5. Education: publish a Pay by Bank education page

Building from the previous point – to cater to a small but important group of consumers who want to fully understand a payment method before committing – is creating a dedicated Pay by Bank education page. Unpacking what it is, whether it’s safe, which banks are supported and what happens to their data is information overload for the checkout itself.

The page we created for Farfetch is a good example. It walks the customer through the flow step by step, sets out plainly why paying by bank beats card on speed, ease and security, and closes with the questions shoppers actually ask. Because the page lives in one place rather than in the checkout, it can be linked from anywhere – the payment step, the help centre, order confirmation emails – and kept up to date without anyone touching the checkout itself.

One checkout, every market

It’s worth highlighting that while the label, the reassurance line and the local banks change from market to market, the underlying approach does not. A primary placement, consistent wording, recognisable logos and a clear explainer are as effective in Berlin as in Birmingham. Through a single integration, the same optimised, localised experience can be delivered across every market you sell in.

The five-point checklist

✓  Pay by Bank presented as a primary, top-level payment option
✓  Card-decline recovery prompt enabled
✓  Consistent ‘Pay by Bank’ wording across site and checkout
✓  Recognised bank logos and a trust mark shown at the point of selection
✓  A one-line explainer placed beneath the payment option

To act on any of these, our account management team can review your checkout and help prioritise the changes likely to have the greatest effect. Simply complete the form below and we’ll be in touch.