BR-DGE, the rapidly growing payment orchestration provider, has announced a partnership with American Express to enhance the Open Banking capabilities for merchants.

BR-DGE’s Partnership Program brings together over 300 payment providers and technology solutions to enable merchants to optimise their payments stack, access the latest payment innovations, and benefit from payment orchestration. This latest collaboration with American Express will enhance the merchant and consumer experience of payments by offering a secure and frictionless Open Banking payment solution.

Complementing BR-DGE’s work in travel and retail, American Express is enabling real-time Open Banking payments for leading brands via its first-to-market payment solution Pay with Bank Transfer. Pay with Bank transfer is a simple, efficient, and secure way for customers to pay online. As payments are made instantly from the customer’s account, merchants can reduce transaction costs, drive conversion, and decrease fraudulent activity. The solution is trusted to process payments by Trailfinders, Qatar Airways, and Richer Sounds, which benefit from American Express’ years of experience working with merchants, consumers and acquirers.

Leveraging BR-DGE’s independent payment orchestration platform and network of market-leading payment innovators empowers its partners to acquire new merchants, retain customer relations, accelerate merchant onboarding, and gain access to a wealth of marketing and sales resources. The partnership will support American Express as it seeks to accelerate adoption of Pay with Bank Transfer and offer merchants access to industry-leading payment orchestration products through BR-DGE.

Led by CEO Thomas Gillan, BR-DGE’s platform is revolutionising online payments for merchants by offering a universe of payment options via a single point of integration. With over 6 million active UK users of Open Banking, BR-DGE is working with a number of partners across the payment industry to meet growing merchant adoption. The BR-DGE platform supports the evolving payment needs of merchants and consumers by bringing together greater resilience and optionality with reduced friction and business overheads.

Commenting on the partnership, Tom Voaden, Head of Partnerships at BR-DGE said: “American Express is pioneering the latest in Open Banking technology and we are delighted to be collaborating with its team of leading experts. As Open Banking increases as a payment method within the UK and Europe, American Express’ leading brand and proposition will help drive consumer confidence in the technology and greater adoption. By partnering with innovative payment and technology providers in the industry, such as American Express, we can offer a platform that enables our merchants to select the best payment solutions at speed and build a payment stack that supports their growth ambitions.”

Charlotte Wise, Director, International open banking payments at American Express said: “We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with BR-DGE, which brings together the established expertise of American Express, with the innovative technology of a dynamic fintech player, providing a seamless experience for merchants looking to integrate payment options for their customers. With the acceleration of Open Banking, collaboration within the payments ecosystem is vital in order to provide customers with the best possible experience. We are excited to be leading the way and look forward to the benefits this partnership will bring to merchants and consumers alike."

This announcement showcases BR-DGE’s continued growth following a 3x increase in merchant acquisitions in 2022 with merchants such as Travel Counsellors and Kenwood Travel joining the platform. BR-DGE is forecasting significant growth in 2023 with over £1.5bn of transactions projected to be processed over the year.