GoCardless has expanded its partnership with Sage to integrate Pay by Bank, its open banking payment feature, directly within Sage Business Cloud Accounting. The integration adds instant one-off account-to-account payments alongside GoCardless' existing Direct Debit capabilities.
Extending an existing partnership
The launch builds on a multi-year relationship between the two companies. With the expansion, Sage users across the UK and Ireland can offer their customers a card-free method to pay invoices instantly online. By embedding a Pay by Bank option directly within Sage invoices, small businesses gain a method for collecting one-off charges that fall outside regular Direct Debit schedules, such as upfront setup fees, additional services, or account top-ups.
Because Pay by Bank payments move directly between accounts rather than relying on card details, the companies said the integration is intended to reduce the risk of failed payments caused by expired or lost card information. GoCardless and Sage said the approach can reduce single transaction costs by an average of 54% compared with traditional card networks, while also lowering the likelihood of failed payment attempts.
The integration is also designed to reduce administrative work associated with manual bookkeeping. Once a customer pays an invoice through Pay by Bank, the payment status syncs automatically with the Sage dashboard to reconcile the outstanding balance, removing the need for manual data entry or matching transactions against bank statements.
A company official at GoCardless said the partnership addresses a common challenge for small businesses managing tight margins, where high card fees and delayed payments place pressure on available resources. The official said combining automated recurring collections with instant open banking payments is intended to help businesses protect cash flow while reducing card-related costs.
A company official at Sage said the integration is intended to reduce the administrative burden associated with invoicing and reconciliation, allowing businesses to spend less time on manual admin. The official said bringing Pay by Bank natively into Sage Business Cloud Accounting closes the gap between invoice creation and real-time bookkeeping, giving businesses clearer visibility into their cash flow.
Broader context
The integration reflects continued growth in the use of open banking-based payment methods among small and mid-sized businesses in the UK and Ireland, as providers look to combine payment collection with accounting software to reduce administrative overhead and transaction costs traditionally associated with card payments.
