Turnkey open banking platform provider Token today announces that it is enabling Paymentworld Europe Ltd. to provide a bank direct payments facility to its business and consumer customers.

Paymentworld’s portfolio of payment services includes a payment gateway with 400+ payment options in 160 countries, an EWallet that enables B2B, B2C and C2C transactions, independent payment processing and value-added services such as loyalty and bonus programmes.

Integration with Token’s platform benefits Paymentworld’s gateway customers by enabling bank direct payments and lowering the cost of transactions – as well as being a chargeback-free solution when used at checkout. It also improves the end-user experience by allowing individuals and merchants to make payments and check their balance in-app, without redirecting to banking portals.

Jens Podewski, CEO, MD and Founder of Paymentworld, explains, “Our aim is to enable our customers to quickly and easily initiate and receive payments in whatever form best suits them, wherever they are in the world. Adding bank direct payments to our payment gateway and EWallet solutions via Token’s platform is the next logical step and establishes us as early market-leaders in the new era of open banking.”

For businesses looking to maximise the opportunities offered by open banking, like Paymentworld, Token is the only open banking solution that covers the entire value chain. Unlike other service providers, Token has a single API to access all banks for payments and data. This enables Paymentworld to offer instant, bank direct payments to its customers and solves the integration pain being felt across the industry caused by multiple proprietary bank APIs. Additionally, its cloud-based Smart Token technology enables flexibility and scalability in creating and handling transactions by using a unique security model.

Paymentworld has recently partnered with marketplace KAUFinBW.de (www.kaufinbw.de), which brings together local merchants and consumers in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Paymentworld’s EWallet will use Token to enable merchants that may not be eligible to onboard with traditional payment processors due to their start-up status, size or business model. This is a key benefit of open banking for these players because they no longer suffer a commercial penalty for being new to the game.

Consumers that use the EWallet will be able to make payments without being redirected to banking portals, substantially improving their experience.

“The marketplace already supports traditional payment methods, but the addition of Token’s bank- direct payments will be a game changer for merchants,” Podewski continues. “By providing them with access to instant, chargeback and risk-free payments without the need to follow restrictive card scheme rules, even cryptocurrencies can’t compete with this on flexibility or cost.”

Marten Nelson, Co-Founder and CMO, Token, adds, “Our vision is to enable all transacting businesses to harness the power of open banking to simplify, accelerate and reduce the cost of transacting globally. Token is the shortest, fastest and least expensive path for banks, merchants and other financial service providers to expand into payments and data aggregation services via a single standardised open banking platform. Crucially, this platform also provides a great environment for third parties like Paymentworld, because these are the businesses that will make open banking really fly by creating the payment services that end-users want.”