Starling Bank To Incorporate Pay By Bank For Online Purchases

By PYMNTS

Starling, the digital bank, has inked a partnership with Pay by Bank, the mobile payment app of Vocalink, to enable users to buy things online.

According to a report, Pay by Bank app’s technology is already being used by Barclay’s with its Pingit app, but the report noted this marks the first time a digital challenger bank has decided to use the service, which relies on digital tokens instead of requiring users to provide account and card details when making purchases online.

In an interview, Starling Operating Chief Julian Sawyer said using the technology of Pay by Bank is “important as it not only allows customers to bank and transact on the go, but also to benefit from a greater range of choice and sense of security.”

What’s more, he said, “Pay by Bank app’s ‘token’ technology means financial data never leaves the customer’s banking app during a transaction, staying safe and secure.”

Vocalink, which is a consortium of 18 U.K. banks, including Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland, was sold to Mastercard last year. The app, which was known as Zapp, was renamed Pay by Bank last year, noted the report.

“The fact that Starling Bank, which is known for its pioneering approach to banking and technology, has committed to Pay by Bank app reflects growing recognition that the service is fast becoming the ‘standard’ for mobile payments,” said the Managing Director of Pay by Bank app Rajiv Garodia in the same report.

Earlier this month, Starling Bank announced a partnership with investment mobile app Moneybox. The partnership will provide Starling customers with access to Moneybox’s suite of savings and investing tools. Starling is reportedly the first challenger bank to integrate in this way with Moneybox. Leveraging Starling’s open APIs in the integration, customer data will be shareable in a secure way between the two apps. Transactions will occur instantaneously.