The global transformation of the payments landscape has reached a critical juncture, prompting industry leaders to seek definitive insights into consumer and merchant behavior. Token.io, a prominent account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure provider, has partnered once again with the Open Banking Expo to launch their sixth annual Pay by Bank industry survey. This comprehensive research initiative invites senior executives, payments professionals, retail strategists, and fintech innovators from across the United Kingdom, Europe, and international markets to share their perspectives on the strategic evolution, commercial viability, and technological roadmap required to accelerate Pay by Bank adoption.
As traditional card schemes face increasing scrutiny over interchange fees, processing delays, and authorization friction, Pay by Bank—powered by open banking infrastructure—offers a streamlined, cost-effective alternative. However, realizing its full potential as a mainstream payment method requires coordinated efforts across the financial ecosystem. The newly launched survey aims to capture these diverse viewpoints, providing a vital barometer for the industry as it addresses lingering bottlenecks and capitalizes on emerging financial technologies.
Background and Context of the Open Banking Evolution
The journey of open banking began in earnest with regulatory mandates such as the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in Europe and the Open Banking Remedies in the United Kingdom. Designed to foster competition and innovation within financial services, these frameworks mandated that traditional banks securely share customer data with authorized third-party providers (TPPs) via application programming interfaces (APIs), provided the customer gave explicit consent.
Initially focused on account aggregation and budgeting tools, open banking quickly evolved into a powerful payment mechanism. Pay by Bank allows consumers to initiate direct, account-to-account transfers seamlessly at the checkout, bypassing legacy card networks entirely. This reduction in intermediaries not only lowers transaction costs for merchants—often slashing processing fees significantly compared to credit and debit cards—but also virtually eliminates traditional chargeback fraud, as payments are authenticated biometrically through the customer’s banking application.
Despite these clear advantages, achieving ubiquitous consumer adoption has proven complex. Consumers accustomed to the familiarity, reward programs, and buyer protection mechanisms of established card networks require compelling reasons to alter their checkout habits. Furthermore, merchants have demanded more robust user experiences, predictable settlement times, and comprehensive support for recurring payments. The annual survey by Token.io and Open Banking Expo serves as a vital longitudinal study, tracking how these perceptions, technological capabilities, and market demands have shifted year-over-year.
Survey Structure and Core Research Themes
Open to senior professionals across banking, financial technology, retail, payment service providers, and merchant enterprises, the anonymous survey has been meticulously designed to take approximately seven minutes to complete. It will remain open for submissions until September 23, 2026, offering a wide window for stakeholders to contribute their expertise.
This year’s research agenda delves deeply into the critical milestones Payby Bank must achieve to transition from a niche payment method into a genuine, universal alternative to cards. Key thematic areas explored in the 2026 questionnaire include:
Branding and Consumer Perception: Examining how standardized branding can build consumer trust and recognition akin to established card logos at the checkout.
Point-of-Sale (POS) Experience: Assessing advancements in in-store QR code payments and near-field communication (NFC) integrations that bridge the gap between digital open banking and physical retail environments.
Recurring Payments and Subscriptions: Evaluating merchant and consumer demand for recurring A2A payment structures across European markets.
Agentic Commerce and Emerging Tech: Exploring the nascent role of AI-driven autonomous agents in initiating and executing commercial transactions, and how open banking infrastructure can support machine-to-machine payments.
Adoption Drivers and Inhibitors: Identifying the precise market forces accelerating deployment versus the structural hurdles slowing down broader market penetration.
Liability and Dispute Resolution: Addressing the critical question of where responsibility and financial liability should sit when a payment encounters an error, fraud, or technical failure.
For UK-based respondents, the survey holds particular significance regarding commercial variable recurring payments (cVRPs). As the UK market transitions toward a phased commercial rollout of cVRPs—which allow businesses to take automated, variable payments from customer accounts under a pre-agreed digital mandate—participants are being asked to rank which specific use cases they would most like to see delivered next. These use cases range from utility bill management and subscription renewals to B2B invoicing and gig-economy payouts.
Incentives and Event Integration
To encourage widespread participation from across the payments ecosystem, Token.io and the Open Banking Expo have incorporated an incentive structure for respondents. Individuals who complete the survey can opt into an exclusive prize draw for the chance to win two complimentary passes to the highly anticipated Open Banking Expo UK & Europe 2026.
The event is scheduled to take place at the Business Design Centre in London on October 13–14, 2026. Token.io is serving as the Headline Partner for the conference, where company executives will formally unveil and explore the comprehensive survey findings alongside industry leaders, regulators, and innovators. This live debrief will provide a platform for panel discussions, debates, and strategic workshops aimed at translating the survey data into actionable industry initiatives.
Supporting Data and Market Projections
The launch of the sixth annual survey coincides with a period of explosive growth and maturation within the global open banking and A2A payments market. According to recent industry data compiled by Token.io and various market intelligence firms, open banking payment volumes have experienced exponential year-on-year growth across the UK and the Eurozone.
In the UK alone, open banking payments surpassed milestones of tens of millions of transactions per month, driven largely by adoption in tax payments (such as HM Revenue & Customs), financial services top-ups, and utility bill settlements. However, retail ecommerce adoption remains an untapped frontier. Industry analysts project that as user authentication processes become friction-free and consumer trust solidifies, the global open banking payments market could reach hundreds of billions in transaction value by the end of the decade.
Despite this optimistic trajectory, structural hurdles persist. Research from previous iterations of the Token.io and Open Banking Expo survey highlighted that inconsistent bank API uptime, a lack of standardized consumer-facing branding, and consumer anxiety regarding refund processes remained top concerns for merchants. By tracking these metrics over a six-year timeline, the 2026 survey will provide longitudinal clarity on whether industry standardization efforts are successfully mitigating these historical friction points.
Official Reactions and Industry Implications
While formal statements from participating executives underscore the cooperative nature of the research, industry analysts and stakeholder organizations have widely praised the initiative for its pragmatic approach to market challenges.
Commentators in the financial technology sector note that the debate surrounding liability—specifically who bears the financial loss when an open banking payment goes wrong—remains one of the single most significant roadblocks to merchant adoption. Unlike credit cards, which offer robust statutory protections under frameworks like Section 75 in the UK, open banking payments operate on direct credit push mechanics. Establishing clear, consumer-friendly dispute mechanisms and liability frameworks is viewed as an absolute prerequisite for mass-market retail adoption.
Furthermore, the inclusion of agentic commerce in this year’s survey signals a forward-looking acknowledgment of how artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape digital interactions. As autonomous software agents increasingly handle tasks ranging from booking travel to managing household subscriptions, the underlying payment rails must be capable of supporting secure, programmatic, and real-time authorization without human intervention at the exact moment of purchase. Open banking APIs are uniquely positioned to serve as the default infrastructure for agentic commerce, provided standard protocols can be agreed upon globally.
Broader Economic and Consumer Impact
The implications of the 2026 Pay by Bank survey extend far beyond the balance sheets of banks and fintechs, ultimately touching everyday consumers and small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For merchants burdened by the escalating costs of accepting traditional card payments—often referred to as the merchant service charge—widespread adoption of Pay by Bank represents a vital mechanism for margin preservation in competitive retail environments. By diverting transaction flows away from legacy duopolies, businesses can retain a higher percentage of their revenue, savings that can theoretically be passed on to consumers in the form of lower retail prices.
For consumers, the shift toward instant account-to-account payments promises greater financial control, immediate visibility of funds, and enhanced security. Because Pay by Bank transactions do not require the sharing of sensitive 16-digit card numbers with merchants, the attack surface for retail data breaches is substantially reduced.
As the industry converges on London this October for the Open Banking Expo UK & Europe 2026, the insights gathered from this year’s survey will serve as a foundational roadmap. By bridging the gap between current operational barriers and future technological capabilities, the findings will help determine whether Pay by Bank can successfully fulfill its promise as the dominant payment paradigm of the digital economy.
Stakeholders, merchants, payment service providers, and banking professionals wishing to contribute their expertise to the ongoing transformation of the payments landscape can access the survey via Token.io’s official distribution channels. Detailed information regarding the upcoming conference and partnership opportunities is available through the Open Banking Expo platform.
