Ecospend, the UK’s leading Open Banking technology provider recently acquired by Trustly, today announces the appointment of Lord Chris Holmes of Richmond MBE, as an adviser to support the company as it grows in the UK and overseas.

As well as being Britain’s most successful paralympic swimmer, Lord Holmes is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of financial inclusion. Chris also sits on the Science and Technology Select Committee and has previously been a member of specialist House of Lords Select Committees dealing with democracy and digital technologies, digital skills, social mobility, and financial exclusion.

As a result of his tireless efforts in making fintech part of the mainstream, Lord Holmes has a wealth of experience to support Ecospend’s growth ambitions and to provide specialist advice on exporting Open Banking payment solutions to merchants across the globe. 

Since 2021, Ecospend has been the provider of Open Banking technology to HMRC – one of the most prominent use cases of account-to-account payments around the world. As of February 2023, over three million customers have used Ecospend’s ‘Pay-by-Bank’ technology to make over £13bn worth of tax payments to HMRC, with £2.3bn processed in January 2023 alone ahead of the deadline for Self-Assessment. 

James Hickman, CCO of Ecospend comments:

“We are delighted to have Chris join the Ecospend/Trustly team. He is an inspiring figure and we believe his expertise will help us to strengthen our proposition for merchants across the globe. Open Banking payments in the UK have grown massively in the last five years, as highlighted by the various use cases including HMRC's Pay-by-Bank solution, however, as part of our growth ambitions, we are looking to grow our presence outside of the UK as well. We believe Lord Holmes will be a key part in that process.”

Lord Chris Holmes of Richmond MBE, comments:

“It is great to be supporting a company like Ecospend/Trustly - one which is pioneering the use of Open Banking technology. Its solutions not only help increase business efficiency for merchants but also improve the user experience for customers making payments. We have a great opportunity to be growing this UK technology in other international markets. This technology will only grow in prominence as more businesses become aware of the many benefits it can bring.”