EU Banking Platform Aiia Debuts Pay by Link

Open banking platform Aiia is introducing a new “Pay by link” feature that allows for various kinds of payments on a wider range of methods, the company announced Monday (June 6).

With Pay by link, users can make payments via email, PDF, SMS, a letter or even a social media conversation. The solution is intended to offer numerous industries and use cases — ranging from accounting, insurance and telecom companies to social commerce, payment service providers and utility companies — more ways to pay.

Aiia stated that businesses will be able to cut unnecessary payment steps, instead creating a “simple link” to let customers pay. Pay by link is based on open banking payments will reportedly provide the most cost-effective payment method in any use case, according to the company release.

Businesses will be able to populate the payment with the right invoice info, and Aiia will make sure that the important information is available on both the sender and receiver accounts, letting users automate the reconciliation process if necessary.

Aiia CEO and co-founder Rune Mai said the intent was to change the “entire way of paying bills.”

“With Pay by link, we give businesses the opportunity to accept and receive payments anywhere and reduce friction in the entire payment flow,” Mai said. “The new feature is bridging the opportunity gap between open banking payments and a wide range of businesses.”

As PYMNTS wrote in November, Aiia also worked on the mit.dk platform to help add open-banking features for Danish citizens.

Read more: Mastercard’s Aiia Powers New Platform to Bring Open Banking to the Masses in Denmark

This comes as convenience has become a key factor in what many consumers want, particularly with the pandemic going on.

Mit.dk allows users to pay bills and invoices in one place, and Mai is quoted saying many bills are unpaid these days “not because people are unwilling, but because the workflow of actually making the payment is very cumbersome.”

He added that this platform would cut down on “hassle” for citizens, and that it would also give citizens the ability to do things like reschedule doctor’s appointments and communicate with companies directly.