The global financial technology landscape reached a significant turning point this week as Trustly, a preeminent leader in the "Pay by Bank" sector, announced that its platform has surpassed 120 million users worldwide. This milestone serves as a definitive marker for the mainstreaming of Open Banking and account-to-account (A2A) payment solutions, reflecting a fundamental shift in how consumers and businesses interact with the global banking infrastructure. As traditional card-based payment systems face increasing pressure from rising processing fees and security concerns, Trustly’s growth underscores a burgeoning preference for direct, bank-integrated transaction methods that prioritize speed, security, and lower operational costs.
The expansion of Trustly’s user base is not an isolated phenomenon but rather a reflection of a broader global trend toward the decentralization of payment processing. In the United Kingdom, data indicates that more than 15 million consumers and businesses are now active users of Pay by Bank services across various providers. This figure represents nearly one in three adults in the UK, with the total number of users increasing by an impressive 34% year-on-year. On a continental scale, industry estimates suggest that adoption across Europe has reached approximately 64 million users, driven largely by the European Union’s Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which mandated that banks open their data to third-party providers via secure Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
The Evolution of Open Banking and Trustly’s Market Position
Trustly’s ascent to 120 million users is the culmination of more than a decade of strategic infrastructure development. Unlike traditional payment processors that rely on the legacy rails of credit and debit card networks, Trustly’s platform is built on an extensive payments and data network that connects thousands of financial institutions across Europe and North America. This network is widely regarded as one of the broadest in the Open Banking ecosystem, leveraging over ten years of transaction intelligence to refine its risk management and user experience protocols.
The platform’s success is rooted in its ability to serve a diverse array of high-volume industries, including e-commerce, financial services, gaming, telecommunications, and the public sector. By bypassing the intermediaries typically associated with card transactions, Trustly provides merchants with a streamlined settlement process that reduces the risk of chargebacks and significantly lowers transaction fees. For consumers, the appeal lies in the "frictionless" nature of the transaction—payments are authorized directly through their existing banking apps, utilizing the biometric security features (such as FaceID or fingerprint scanning) already native to their mobile devices.
Strategic Partnerships and Institutional Trust
A key driver behind Trustly’s recent growth has been its ability to secure and maintain high-stakes partnerships with some of the world’s most recognizable brands and government entities. Over the past 24 months, the company has attracted a prestigious portfolio of clients across multiple verticals. In the e-commerce and travel sectors, giants such as Booking.com and Lenovo have integrated Trustly to offer their customers more flexible payment options. In the telecommunications sector, the company has solidified its presence through partnerships with AT&T in the United States and Virgin Media O2 in the United Kingdom.
Perhaps the most significant testament to Trustly’s reliability is its ongoing relationship with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the United Kingdom. As the primary tax authority for the UK government, HMRC’s adoption of Open Banking technology represents the most significant mandate of its kind globally. By allowing citizens to pay taxes directly via their bank accounts, HMRC has processed billions of pounds in revenue through the Pay by Bank framework. The success of this partnership has provided a blueprint for other government agencies worldwide, demonstrating that Open Banking is capable of handling the scalability and security requirements of national-level infrastructure.
Technological Innovation: AI and Biometrics
Trustly’s recent milestone is also a product of its aggressive pursuit of technological innovation. In 2023, the company introduced an AI-powered recurring payments solution designed to address the inefficiencies of traditional Direct Debits and card-on-file systems. By utilizing machine learning algorithms to analyze transaction patterns and account data, the system can predict the optimal time to process a payment, thereby reducing the likelihood of failures due to insufficient funds. This innovation has proven particularly valuable for subscription-based businesses and utility providers, helping to enhance customer lifetime value (CLV) and stabilize revenue streams.
Looking ahead to 2025, Trustly has further expanded its technological footprint with the launch of "Trustly ID" in the European market. This biometric-driven identification solution is designed to streamline the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, particularly in the gaming and financial services sectors where regulatory compliance is paramount. By speeding up the identification and login process, Trustly ID reduces abandonment rates and enhances the user experience without compromising on security.
In the United States, the company has introduced "Scan & Pay," a cashless gaming solution aimed at the land-based casino and hospitality industries. As physical venues increasingly seek to transition away from cash-heavy operations, Scan & Pay allows patrons to fund their gaming activities directly from their bank accounts via a simple QR code scan. This not only provides a safer and more convenient experience for the player but also offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies for the venue operators.
The North American Landscape: A Massive Growth Opportunity
While Europe has historically been the leader in Open Banking due to proactive regulation, the United States is rapidly catching up. Trustly’s data reveals that at least 100 million American consumers have now authorized a third party to access their bank account data for payments or financial management. This shift is being supported by a changing regulatory environment, most notably the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) efforts to implement Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which aims to give consumers greater control over their financial data.
The US market represents a massive growth opportunity for Trustly, as American merchants seek alternatives to the high interchange fees associated with the dominant card networks. The adoption of A2A payments in the US is expected to accelerate as more consumers become comfortable with the security and ease of paying directly from their bank accounts. Trustly’s established presence in the US, combined with its experience in the highly regulated European market, positions it as a primary beneficiary of this transition.
Official Responses and Industry Impact
Johan Tjärnberg, Group Chief Executive Officer of Trustly, emphasized the significance of the 120 million user mark in a statement following the announcement. "Surpassing 120 million users is a real milestone for Trustly and is testament to our central role in driving the momentum behind Pay by Bank globally," Tjärnberg stated. "This achievement reflects not only Trustly’s market-leading position but also the growing trust and demand for Pay by Bank as consumers and businesses alike embrace faster and more secure ways to pay. We’re excited to continue driving this evolution forward to make seamless and safe payments a reality for all."
Industry analysts suggest that Trustly’s growth is indicative of a "second wave" of fintech disruption. While the first wave focused on digital interfaces for traditional banking services, the second wave—led by companies like Trustly—is fundamentally rewriting the underlying plumbing of the financial system. By creating a direct link between the merchant and the consumer’s bank account, Trustly is effectively removing the "middlemen" of the payment world, a move that has long-term implications for the profitability models of traditional credit card issuers.
Future Outlook and Market Implications
As Trustly looks toward the future, the implications of its 120 million user milestone extend far beyond a single company’s balance sheet. The continued rise of Pay by Bank technology suggests a future where "plastic" cards may become secondary to digital, bank-integrated identities. The integration of AI and real-time data will likely lead to even more personalized financial services, where payments are not just transactional but are informed by the user’s overall financial health.
Furthermore, the expansion of Trustly into government payments and large-scale utilities indicates that Open Banking is moving out of the "niche fintech" category and into the "essential infrastructure" category. As more countries adopt Open Banking standards—such as Brazil with its Pix system and India with UPI—the global expectation for instant, secure, and low-cost payments will only grow.
For merchants, the message is clear: the cost of traditional payment processing is no longer a fixed necessity. With 120 million users already onboarded and millions more joining every year, the Pay by Bank ecosystem has reached the critical mass necessary to challenge the status quo. Trustly’s journey from a Swedish startup to a global powerhouse serves as a case study in the power of infrastructure-led innovation, proving that in the modern economy, the most valuable network is the one that connects directly to the source of value: the bank account.
