Out with the old, in with the new

Paym: I hardly knew you Paym is (and from tomorrow (7 March 2023) was) a mobile payment system operated by Pay.UK and offered by the majority of the UK’s banks and building societies. Recipients are identified by their mobile phone number rather than their bank sort code and account number.  At the end of 2022 the service was... Continue Reading →

Answer Pay and Partner Hub join forces to improve cash flow in Europe’s €1.2Bn e-invoicing market

As the cost of living crisis increasingly bites many businesses are struggling to collect payments from their customers.  Subscription numbers are declining and consumers are cancelling direct debits in favour of alternative payment methods that give them more control.  However, these alternatives such as cash, cards and cheques can cost more and introduce friction with... Continue Reading →

A Meta-phor for missed banking opportunities?

This blog first appeared as a blog on Answer Pay’s website: Instagram payments, a Meta-phor for missed banking opportunities? Instagram launches payment service In case you missed it, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a new “payments in chat” feature for Instagram.  According to Techcrunch this means:  ..users can purchase products from small businesses and track orders via direct messages... Continue Reading →

Where does Request to Pay go from here?

This blog originally appeared on Answer Pay’s website: Where does Request to Pay go from here? and was written by Ian Tomlin. Request to Pay (RtP) is the new messaging interoperability protocol being adopted across the UK to simplify bill payments. It’s been around for a couple of years now but—as this month the UK financial service industry... Continue Reading →

Answer Pay: Officially a tech climber

Officially a tech climber I’m so pleased to share that Answer Pay (the UK’s first accredited Request to Pay provider) has made it onto the inaugural Tech Climbers Leeds City Region 2022 list! Tech Climbers is a regional list published with BusinessCloudthat showcases the top performing, IP rich, product led technology businesses. Quickly becoming known as a thriving tech destination, Leeds City Region is... Continue Reading →

Answer Pay fuels European expansion with DIT funding arrangement

Answer Pay has announced that it has successfully received funding to extend its Request to Pay connectivity to European countries in the Single Euro Payments Area(SEPA).  Digital payment technologies are evolving.  Arguably, the biggest step-change in payments innovation in the UK and Europe comes in the form of Request-to-Pay (RtP).  This is a relatively new message overlay service first... Continue Reading →

SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme.

The European Payments Council (EPC) have shared a new video about the SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme managed by the European Payments Council (EPC) covers a set of operating rules and technical elements (including messages) that allow a Payee to request digitally the initiation of a payment... Continue Reading →

Pay by Link: Central Bank steps in

Help me out here ... how can 'pay by link' even be a thing? Back in issue 207 of Payments:Unpacked we asked how can 'pay by link' even be a thing? Pay by link is growing in use within the financial services industry, as banks and other financial services companies adopt the mechanism in their apps to service growing... Continue Reading →

Podcast: What is Request to Pay? Featuring Peter Cornforth from Answer Pay

In this first episode of the new Payments:Unpacked podcast series (Series 1, Episode 1) we shine a light on the UK's new bill payments overlay service - Request to Pay.  We are joined by Peter Cornforth, Commercial Director from Answer Pay - the UK's first accredited Request to Pay provider. Peter describes what Request to Pay is, considers the benefits to both the biller and... Continue Reading →

SEPA Request to Pay

European Payments Council SEPA RtP Second Version - a guest blog from Peter Cornforth, Commercial Director at Answer Pay. An early Christmas present to European payments industry nerds (myself included) landed on Tuesday 30th Nov, with the second iteration of the European Payments Council (EPC) rulebook. Using ISO20022 standards for Request to Pay (RtP) messages as a... Continue Reading →

Simpler, safer and more empowering

Interested in Request to Pay but want to find out a little bit more? Four articles that help unpack Request to Pay. Pay by Link or Request to Pay? Peter Cornforth, Answer Pay’s Commercial Director asks, if Pay By Link is so straight forward then why has it seen more success? He suggests that the... Continue Reading →

How Request to Pay safeguards the UK’s 24 million financially vulnerable

In an era of individualism and empowerment, how is the payments industry responding to the needs of vulnerable households? This article explores how Request to Pay balances biller priorities with consumer and small business needs. The Choice Factor In the United Kingdom today, one in six working households—or 17.4 percent— are living in poverty, 1.5 million consumers are in water poverty, over 20 million... Continue Reading →

Request to Pay VS Open Banking

It would be really interesting to do a compare and contrast of RTP Vs open banking powered services that will do similar soon with VRP... From a customer and a biller perspective. This was an observation made in response by Chris Higham to a recent LinkedIn post by Mike Chambers at Answer Pay. The original post is at: https://lnkd.in/dECzVCM4 So... Continue Reading →

Changing the landscape

Software is eating the world Arguably, the biggest change to our daily lives in our lifetime has been the proliferation of mobile telephony and the always-on socio-digital culture. Mobile phones have become key to identifying ‘us’ in a world of digital. Their multi-colour covers define us. Their notifications punctuate our lives. And, unsurprisingly, we want... Continue Reading →

When is the right time?

Request to Pay 'Lead or Lag?' - When is the right time to begin your Request to Pay journey? Timed to coincide with the recent release of the Single Euro Payments Area Request-to-Pay (SEPA Request-To-Pay), AnswerPay recently held a virtual expert panel discussion which tackled the big questions that surround Request to Pay adoption including: when financial services companies should look... Continue Reading →

Not why but how and when

A thought provoking guest blog “Why Request to Pay, Europe’s answer to PayPal, Apple and Google, will change payment processes” by Stefan Walde of AirPlus has just been published in The Company Dime. Stefan’s article starts with this introduction:  Stefan goes on to consider: RtP being competition for the classic credit card. RtP friend or foe? RtP no... Continue Reading →

Around the World in Request to Pays

A round-up of how Request to Pay is rolling out around the world The world is waking up to Request to Pay (R2P) as the answer to convenient and affordable digital bill payments. Request to Pay has arrived and is expanding globally.   We are pleased to feature a guest blog by Peter Cornforth. In this article Peter... Continue Reading →

Request to Pay’s Grand Tour

We are often asked about the parallel developments of the UK and European flavours of Request to Pay and how they might work together.  Following the launch of the European version on June 15th, we thought it an ideal time to signpost the bigger differences. Where Request to Pay (and SEPA R2P) have come from The... Continue Reading →

Webinar – Request to Pay: Lead or Lag?

Is your organisation ready for Request to Pay? Time-lined to coincide with the planned June launch of the Single Euro Payments Area Request to Pay (SEPA Request to Pay), this virtual expert panel discussion tackles the big questions that surround Request to Pay adoption including, when financial services companies should look to adopt it, what... Continue Reading →

A.P.P. to app: How to avoid email and text scams

Online fraud has blossomed, and it’s easy to become a victim In recent months we’ve seen a dramatic increase in fraudsters exploiting our increased volume of online shopping to con innocent victims into sending vast sums of money and personal details.  The latest research published by UK Finance suggests that UK Finance members reported 149,946 incidents of Authorised Push... Continue Reading →

Request to Pay, Lead or Lag?

Is your organisation ready for Request to Pay? Join Answer Pay, Accenture and FIS for our virtual expert panel discussion “Request to Pay, Lead or Lag?” on June 22 at 2pm. Time-lined to coincide with the planned June launch of the Single Euro Payments Area Request to Pay (SEPA Request to Pay), this virtual expert panel discussion tackles the big questions... Continue Reading →

Get to grips with Request to Pay

In this guest blog, Gary Parlett, CEO of Answer Pay shares 5 important facts that make Request to Pay one of the most interesting innovations in the payments space happening in 2021. As a biller, Bank or PSP, have you heard of Request to Pay yet?  When I first learnt of the proposition it was... Continue Reading →

What is Request to Pay?

An era when every business is a tech company, and every human has a smart phone. Have you noticed how practically every television ad these days includes an image of a person using a smart device or an app?  We live in an era where individuals want-what-they-want-when-they-want-it.  And bill payments haven’t escaped this game changing... Continue Reading →

Experience the future

Answer Pay has announced the go-live of its Request to Pay demonstrator - the new demonstrator enables billers, payers and payment services providers to experience the full Request to Pay journey for the first time, providing a greater understanding of the huge benefits of bill payments utilising Request to Pay. Request to Pay addresses the... Continue Reading →

Request to Pay in words and pictures

This week we built a slide featuring our favourite Request to Pay words Digital | Empower | Priority | Friction Free | Flexible | Control | Ease of Use Source: Answer Pay Read, subscribe and share Request to Pay: Unpacked is published by Mike Chambers and unpacks the UK’s new service that provides the ability to request payment for... Continue Reading →

Consult Hyperion Request to Pay Webinar

With so many payment options in the market, what makes Request to Pay different and why should banks and PSPs be interested in it?  The webinar recording from last weeks Request to Pay event organised by Consult Hyperion has just been posted - this webinar delves into this question and was led by CHYP’s Principal Consultant, Tim... Continue Reading →

Webinar: Request to Pay

Request to Pay is now available in the UK and is coming soon in Europe.   Join Dave Birch and colleagues from Consult Hyperion for their weekly webinar to discuss transaction technologies and the issues our industry is facing - this week's webinar featured Request to Pay. With so many payment options in the market, what makes Request to Pay different... Continue Reading →

A European perspective

John Broxis, Managing Director at Open Banking Europe has written a useful blog called “Scheming about Open Banking Schemes”. John’s article covers a wide range of topics including: What do we mean by a scheme, SEPA API Access, European Payments Initiative, PSD2 and Open Banking / Finance however, John’s views regarding SEPA Request to Pay... Continue Reading →

Request to Pay: Learning from M-Pesa

M-Pesa success factors and what it can mean for the UK's Request To Pay In this guest blog Peter Cornforth (Commercial Director at Answer Pay) takes a look at how the success of M-Pesa might act as a reference point for the UK’s Request to Pay eco-system. Peter writes: In this article I wanted to look at the success... Continue Reading →

Invitation: Request to Pay: Unpacked

Request to Pay is a new, flexible way for bills to be settled between people, organisations and businesses. What is Request to Pay (RtP)? RtP is a messaging service that has been created to complement existing payments infrastructure and gives billers the ability to request payment for a bill rather than simply sending an invoice.... Continue Reading →

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