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Zen.com has expanded Pay by Bank services powered by Mastercard Open Finance to merchant payments and digital wallet top-ups in nine European markets. The companies say the service gives merchants and consumers another way to make payments directly from bank accounts; adoption, fees, and transaction volumes have not been disclosed.
European fintech Zen.com has enabled Pay by Bank for merchant payments and digital wallet top-ups in nine markets, using Mastercard Open Finance to connect the service to consumers’ bank accounts. The expansion gives participating merchants and customers another payment option alongside cards and other existing methods.
The service is available in Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Lithuania. The report describes two uses: accepting bank-account payments at merchants and topping up digital wallets. The companies have not specified which merchants or wallet products are live, or whether availability is uniform across all nine countries.
Zen.com’s chief growth officer, Lukasz Neska, said the company had brought Pay by Bank live across the markets through a single integration. He described it as a direct way for customers to move money from their bank accounts, while retaining cards and other payment methods as options. The report does not provide details on the banks connected, transaction limits, fees, or settlement times.
Mastercard’s open finance executive, Valerie Nowak, said the partnership is intended to make the service easier for businesses to deploy across markets and for consumers to use. Those statements describe the companies’ aims; the announcement includes no figures on completed payments, merchant uptake, customer usage or performance.
More Bank Payments at Checkout
For merchants, the expansion adds a bank-account payment option to checkout and wallet funding in multiple European markets through one integration, according to Zen.com. This may give businesses another way to serve customers who prefer to pay from their bank accounts, while reducing the need to build separate connections for each market. The report does not establish whether the service lowers costs or improves conversion compared with cards.
For consumers, Pay by Bank offers a route to pay directly from an account rather than entering card details. Whether it feels simpler or faster will depend on the specific payment flow, the banks supported and how the provider handles authorization. The announcement provides no consumer research or service-level measures to assess those factors.
The rollout also reflects a wider effort to make account-to-account payments available for everyday purchases, rather than limiting them to bank transfers or invoice payments. A broader footprint could help the method reach more merchants and customers, but availability alone does not show that it will become a routine substitute for cards.
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Pay by Bank’s Adoption Challenge
Pay by Bank generally refers to a payment initiated from a customer’s bank account, often through an open-banking connection. In this case, Zen.com says Mastercard Open Finance provides the infrastructure for its service. The report characterizes the payments as direct account-to-account transfers, but does not explain the precise authorization process or the protections available if a payment is disputed.
The Finextra report cites a survey by Token.io and Open Banking Expo. It says 72% of banks and 87% of payment service providers surveyed already offer or accept Pay by Bank. It also reports that 59% said recurring-payment and one-click capabilities are essential for Pay by Bank to become a genuine alternative to card payments. These are survey findings, not usage statistics for Zen.com’s new service; the report does not provide the survey sample size or fieldwork dates.
The findings point to a distinction between providers making Pay by Bank available and consumers using it regularly. The cited survey suggests payment convenience features may matter to broader adoption. The current Zen.com announcement concerns merchant acceptance and wallet top-ups; it does not say that recurring payments or one-click checkout are included.
““Pay-by-bank is becoming one of the fastest-growing ways to pay in Europe, and with Mastercard Open Finance we brought it live across nine markets through a single integration.””
— Lukasz Neska, chief growth officer at Zen.com
Usage and Coverage Still Unclear
The announcement does not identify participating merchants or banks, say whether all nine markets have the same coverage, or give a launch schedule by country. It also does not disclose transaction volumes, customer numbers, merchant adoption, fees, settlement times or any comparison with card payments.
It remains unclear how customers will authorize payments, what happens when a bank connection or payment fails, and what dispute or refund processes apply. The source describes the service as secure, but does not provide technical details or independent performance data. It also does not say whether recurring payments or one-click checkout are available, despite the survey’s emphasis on those features.
Merchant Rollout and Usage Data
The immediate next step is for merchants and consumers in the listed countries to use the service where it has been made available. Zen.com and Mastercard have not announced further countries, a timetable for additional features, or targets for merchant adoption. Any later rollout plans or product details would clarify how broadly the service can be used.
Evidence of uptake will depend on information the companies have not yet released, including the number of participating merchants and banks, payment volumes and customer repeat use. Details on fees, refunds, payment failures and recurring or one-click options would also help show how the service compares with established checkout methods. For now, the confirmed development is the expansion of availability across nine markets, not proof of wider consumer adoption.
Key Questions
What did Zen.com and Mastercard announce?
Zen.com enabled Pay by Bank through Mastercard Open Finance for merchant payment acceptance and digital wallet top-ups in nine European markets.
Which countries are included?
The report lists Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Lithuania.
How does Pay by Bank work in this rollout?
The service is described as allowing payments directly from a customer’s bank account, including merchant payments and wallet top-ups. The announcement does not detail the authorization steps or participating banks.
Does the announcement show that Pay by Bank is replacing cards?
No. Zen.com describes Pay by Bank as an option alongside cards and other payment methods. The report provides no data showing that customers are switching from cards.
What information has not been released?
The companies have not disclosed participating merchants and banks, transaction volumes, fees, customer uptake, settlement times or the rollout’s performance. The report also does not confirm whether recurring payments or one-click checkout are included.
Source: finextra.com
