The Current State of Open Banking Payments in Ireland

2021 has been a revolutionary year for Open Banking in Ireland. We are finally beginning to see Banks and Account Providers, collectively known as ASPSPs (Account Servicing Payment Service Providers), optimize their Open Banking payment flows making a more seamless payment experience for the customer. This new banking technology is game changing as it allows customers to make cardless payments using their mobile/desktop devices. Open Banking also reduces payment fees for the merchant and has enhanced security features.

To learn more about Open Banking Payments, please check out our previous blog: https://www.fire.com/the-steady-rise-of-open-payments/

In this blog, I’ve outlined the mobile payment flows of the core banks here in Ireland (as of July 2021). In the below slides, we will journey through each of them. The objective of this blog is to highlight and compare the user experience.

With some recent updates we’ve seen with respect to Irish online banking apps, it has be said that the 2021 flows are vastly improved to what we saw in 2020.

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Try out the below banking flows for yourself!

Mobile Flow Analysis

 

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Bank of Ireland

Bank of Ireland have been relatively on top of Open Banking since 2020. Their Open Banking flow was one of the first implemented and remains strong today.

The user is first asked to enter their online PIN to access their bank. One comment here is that there is no biometric login option (face scan or touch ID) which is a nice feature we see some other ASPSPs offer. Bank of Ireland have also implemented a unique ‘swipe to approve’ feature which is something we haven’t seen before. Finally, we see some minor text formatting issues on the submission page however aside from this, the user flow is pretty smooth.

If Bank of Ireland add the biometric login as an option, this would be one of the best user flows!

Our rating: 4/5

 

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Allied Irish Bank

Allied Irish Bank (AIB) have recently updated their app with new Open Banking changes. Luckily, they decided to make the changes just in time for our blog review.

When we initiate the Open Banking transfer, we are transferred to the AIB app where we must enter our Personal Access Code or use biometrics to login. The information on each screen is mainly well laid out giving the user a simpler experience. After the user selects their account, they must provide their Personal Access Code. Similarly to Bank of Ireland, there is no option to use biometrics here.

Overall, a decent experience however with no biometrics on the second authentication and a slightly longer flow than other ASPSPs, we’ve given 3.5/5.

Our rating: 3.5/5

 

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Fire.com

The fire.com Open Banking flow is one of the shortest and most user friendly. Ensuring a smooth experience for the customer has remained at the foundation of our design. If you wish to pay via your Fire personal app, you can simply click the URL or scan the QR code which will automatically open the Fire personal App. All you need to make the payment is your access code, with one authentication process in the entire user flow.

You download the fire.com personal app by searching ‘fire personal’ in the Apple or Android App Store.

 

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Revolut

Not surprisingly, Revolut are on the list and have an Open Banking solution available for their users. Here’s a step-by-step flow of their Open Banking experience.

In this instance, the user is first asked to authenticate with biometrics or by entering their access PIN. What’s great about this flow is that we are brought straight to the submission page with all the transaction details laid out very nicely. Everything is quite minimal and easy to understand which is a huge plus for the customer.

This flow is almost perfect however, there is a downside to Revolut’s flow. The user has to authenticate twice in the flow, once at the start and once at the end. If this was changed we would give 5/5.

Our rating: 4.5/5

 

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Ulster Bank

Last but not least, we have Ulster Bank.

Like the other major banks, Ulster Bank requires an online banking passcode or biometrics to authenticate. From here, the user is brought to a single page where they must select the account from which they want to make the payment. Once this is selected, the user simply clicks make payment. Ulster Bank have designed their flow to contain all this on same page, so it shortens the user flow.

Overall, we thought this flow was the best and most seamless from a customer perspective. We give this one, a solid 5/5!

Our rating: 5/5

Conclusion

Overall, 2021 has been a great step forward for Open Banking in Ireland. All the major ASPSPs have implemented recent changes to these flows, and we expect the user experience to get better over time. As the ASPSP flows become more and more frictionless, we will begin to see a steady uptake of Open Banking on the island of Ireland. It has been a game of catch-up to the UK with respect to Open Banking and it’s great to see steps forward to close that gap.

At fire.com, we believe Open Banking will play a huge role in the future of online banking. It’s already having a large impact on the payments scene and the usage trends we are beginning to see are exponential in nature.

If you are a business looking to take advantage of Open Banking Payments for you and your customers, you can set-up a Fire business account today for free. With your Fire Business Account, you can setup and accept Open Banking payments by simply creating an Open Banking Payment request. To get started, just hit the Apply Now button at the top of the page!

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