- Consumers do not trust companies requesting bank transfers
- UK SMEs lost direct £ 6.15 billion, and £ 31.4 billion
- Payment of the bank is secure, quick and helps prevent fraud
Open Bank Platform Tink says SMEs in the UK alone lost £ 6.15 billion in direct sales last year because consumers do not trust manual bank transfers, with an additional £ 31.4 billion. Pounds in indirect losses associated with customers not returning.
The news comes as an authorized push payment (app) fraud – where customers are fooling to send money from their account to a scamer’s account – accounted for £ 450 million in losses all over 2024.
Two out of five (41%) consumers now admit to going away when asked to make a manual bank transfer, with almost three out of five (57%) that do not trust companies requesting payments through transfer.
Consumers are (rightly) concerned about bank transfers
The majority (86%) notes that it is uneasy if the account name does not match the company, with a similar number (84%) also related if companies do not offer more payment options.
“Manual bank transfer is often no longer suitable for the purpose and holds back the British economy,” said Ian Morrin, Payment Manager at Tink.
Despite widespread consumer problems, the majority (87%) of SMEs accepting manual bank transfers are still dependent on them regularly, or as their preferred payment method that highlights a clear need for modernization.
This is even more worrying considering that SMEs make up 99.9% of Britain’s business population, leading to billions in losses.
“Safe, recognized payment methods, whether wage after banking, digital wallets or card payments, gives customers confidence to complete purchases while helping businesses improve conversion, reducing fraud risk and meeting rising payment experience,” Morrin added.
Payment by bank, enabled by Open Banking, opens banks and services to communicate with each other, so instead of entering card information, customers can click on a link to send a payment directly from their account and approve it in the app.
Tink describes wages from Bank as cost -effective for businesses, but it also helps reduce fraud and loss. With payments that also run faster than older methods, it can speed up processes on E -trading platforms and lead to higher levels of satisfaction.
