A £2,000 kitchen deposit should not create a £40 card-processing cost, three reminder messages and uncertainty over whether the customer has paid. Yet that is a familiar pattern for many UK businesses. Open banking payments offer a more controlled route: send a request for the exact amount, let the customer approve it in their own banking app, and receive a clear payment status rather than waiting for a manual transfer to appear.
For businesses collecting deposits, stage payments, invoices or job balances of £250 and above, the appeal is practical. The customer still pays from their bank account, but the process has a defined amount, a proper reference and a traceable confirmation journey. That can mean less payment chasing, lower costs on higher-value jobs and less time spent matching incoming transfers to the right customer.
What are open banking payments?
Open banking payments, often called Pay by Bank, allow a customer to authorise a bank-to-bank payment directly from their chosen bank account. Rather than entering sort codes, account numbers and references manually, they follow a payment request and approve it through their bank's normal security process.
The business creates the request with the amount and reference already set. It can then share that request by WhatsApp, SMS, email or QR code. When the customer opens it, they select their bank and are securely passed to their banking app or online banking service to approve the payment.
The customer does not give the business their bank login details. Their bank handles authentication, which may involve Face ID, fingerprint recognition or another security check they already use. Once authorised, the payment moves directly between bank accounts and the business can see the resulting status in its payment platform.
This differs from asking someone to "make a bank transfer". A manual transfer relies on the customer typing every detail correctly, remembering to do it and using the right payment reference. It also leaves the business checking its account and chasing when the money is not immediately obvious. A payment request puts the information and next step in one place.
Why higher-value payments change the calculation
Card payments are useful, particularly for small purchases and point-of-sale transactions. But percentage-based card fees become more noticeable as the job value rises. On a £3,000 deposit, even a modest percentage fee can take a meaningful bite out of margin. That is difficult to ignore for a trades business managing material costs, labour and tight project budgets.
A fixed per-payment charge can be easier to forecast. It gives a business a known collection cost regardless of whether it is collecting £500 for a boiler deposit or £8,000 for a landscaping project. The right choice still depends on the type of payment, customer preference and how quickly payment is needed, but larger one-off and milestone payments are where the economics often become compelling.
There is also the administrative cost. A card payment usually confirms quickly, but may cost more. A manual bank transfer can be cheaper, but it is often slow to collect and awkward to reconcile. Open banking sits between those two options: it provides a guided bank payment journey without the card-style percentage fee model.
How the payment journey works in practice
The process should feel straightforward for both sides. A roof repair company, for example, can create a £1,500 deposit request once a customer accepts a quotation. The amount is fixed, the reference can identify the job, and the request can be sent in the same WhatsApp conversation where the customer has already discussed dates and materials.
The customer taps the request, chooses their bank and authorises the payment using their usual bank security. They are not asked to download a new payment app or share sensitive login details with the business. When payment is approved, the business receives a status update and can issue a confirmation or receipt.
That structure is valuable at every stage of a job. A garage can request payment before releasing a repaired vehicle. A private clinic can collect a treatment deposit before confirming an appointment. A building company can request a stage payment once agreed work is complete. In each case, the business is asking for payment in a clear, professional format rather than sending account details and hoping the transfer arrives.
Open banking payments reduce the chasing gap
The biggest benefit is not only the payment fee. It is the gap between asking for money and knowing where things stand.
When customers are given bank details in a message, a delay can mean almost anything. They may have forgotten, entered the reference incorrectly, intended to pay later or simply need reassurance that the details are genuine. Your office team may then spend time calling, messaging and checking statements. For a small business, this work is rarely visible on a profit-and-loss report, but it takes attention away from booked jobs and customers.
A formal payment request makes the action clearer. The customer sees the exact amount due and is directed to a familiar banking environment to approve it. The business can track whether the request has been paid, remains outstanding or needs a reminder. That does not remove every delay - a customer can still choose not to pay - but it removes avoidable friction and gives your team a defined follow-up process.
Clear references also make reconciliation easier. Instead of trying to identify an incoming payment labelled only with a surname or a vague note, each request can be tied to an invoice, job number, vehicle registration or customer record. Over a busy month, that detail saves real administration time.
A professional payment experience matters
Customers judge a business by more than its workmanship. The payment experience matters, particularly when they are being asked to send a substantial sum. A message containing only bank details may be perfectly legitimate, but it can feel informal and raise questions at the moment the customer is most cautious.
A branded, secure hosted payment page gives the request more context. It shows the amount, the payment reference and the next step. Combined with a confirmation and receipt, it gives customers confidence that their payment has been handled properly.
This is especially useful for businesses that win work remotely. A customer arranging a new driveway, solar installation or cosmetic treatment may not be standing in front of a card terminal. They may be responding to a message at home in the evening. A payment request that works through WhatsApp, SMS or email fits how customers already communicate, while keeping the collection process consistent for the business.
Security without confusing the customer
Open banking can sound technical, but the customer explanation should be simple: they approve the payment in their own bank app. The business does not see or store their bank login credentials.
The payment initiation service behind the request is provided by a regulated open-banking provider. That matters because payment initiation is a regulated activity, with requirements around security and customer protection. For merchants, the practical point is that the technology should sit behind a clear customer journey rather than becoming another compliance task for the office.
It is sensible to be transparent. Tell customers that the request will take them to their bank to authorise payment, and that they should check the amount and reference before approving. This reassures genuine customers and sets the right expectation for a high-value payment.
What to look for in a payment-request platform
A payment link alone is not always enough. For recurring project work and substantial invoices, the surrounding controls are what make the process useful day to day.
Look for the ability to create requests with set amounts and meaningful references, share them across the channels your customers actually use, and see live payment statuses. Payment confirmations, receipts and reminders help staff stay organised without building a separate manual process. Reporting and CSV exports are useful when the accounts team needs to reconcile payments or review collection performance.
Branding is worth considering too. It should be configurable enough that the customer recognises who is asking for payment, without making setup complicated. Most importantly, check the fee structure. If you mainly collect larger sums, compare a fixed payment charge against the percentage you pay for cards. The saving per transaction may look modest at first, but it can add up quickly across deposits and stage payments.
Kube Pay is built around this use case, giving businesses a practical way to send Pay by Bank requests for deposits, invoices and job payments while keeping a clear record from request to receipt.
Start with the payments that cause the most friction
You do not need to replace every way your business takes payment. Start where card fees are hardest to justify or where manual transfers create the most chasing. That may be deposits above £250, final balances before installation, supplier-funded work or invoices that routinely need a reminder.
Set a simple internal rule for when to send a payment request, agree clear references for each job, and make the request part of your normal customer communication. When paying becomes an easy, credible next step rather than a loose instruction, customers are more likely to act while the work and value are still front of mind.