The news delivered by Token’s Chief Product Officer Charles Damen and NatWest Group’s Head of Open Banking Daniel Globerson during a panel session on VRP at Open Banking Expo UK in London means NatWest Group now has agreements with six payment providers to offer VRP as a new payment method.
Token already offers VRP capabilities for sweeping, the automatic transfer of money between two accounts belonging to the same person, across several UK banks. Token’s VRP features can be applied to existing use cases like credit card repayments, as well as to help consumers minimise overdraft fees and maximise interest on savings.
Implementing VRP for non-sweeping accounts
Token’s white label-ready platform is built to enable PSPs, gateways and acquirers to launch and scale account-to-account payment propositions. Token’s connectivity for AIS and PIS in the UK and Europe reaches over 250 million potential end-users of Open Banking services in 14 countries, all through a single API and interface.
As Charles Damen, Chief Product Officer, Token, said, VRP came through the CMA9 mandate as a compliance element, but the technology can be used for wider applications - the non-sweeping use cases.
Non-sweeping use cases include providing a convenient alternative to existing payment options, such as direct debits and online card payments.
Token also has plans to make VRP for non-sweeping services available through other leading banks in the United Kingdom. The company is currently working with Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and merchants to establish trials for non-sweeping services that will ultimately deliver a frictionless user experience across a range of use cases, including e-commerce payments.
On their part, NatWest Group previously announced that the first non-sweeping VRP payments were made earlier in 2022 by NatWest customers to Charity Right, an international charity that provides children with nutritious daily school meals, and to Pink Chilli, a lettings software provider.
Now, by teaming up with Token, NatWest Group will be able to unlock a wider range of use cases for VRP.
Token survey data on Variable Recurring Payments
Token launched an industry survey report on VRP, revealing that industry participants see the three most compelling non-sweeping use cases as subscription service payments, utility bill payments, and one-click ecommerce payments, according to the official company post. A third (32%) of respondents believe a frictionless user experience that excludes SCA will be the main factor driving user adoption of VRP for non-sweeping services.
Data cited by Token indicates that Open Banking payments are predicted to exceed USD 116 billion in 2026, from just under USD 4 billion in 2021, representing a 2800% increase across five years.
