Variable Recurring Payments – will they be the driver of account-to-account payments becoming the norm?

Since launching four years ago, Open Banking in the UK has been progressively gaining momentum. There are now over 5 million monthly active users, with 2021 seeing a 60% increase in new customers making it Open Banking’s most significant growth period to date. Whilst payment progress is historically slow and steady, 2022 is shaping up to be another standout year for Open Banking thanks to the arrival of Variable Recurring Payments.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has required the nine biggest UK banks to implement the Variable Recurring Payment (VRP) APIs to enable customers to sweep money between their accounts by July 2022. But what exactly are VRP and sweeping, and why are they such an important development for businesses who collect online payments?

Some argue that VRP is one of the most significant developments in Open Banking to date, allowing a third party providers (TPPs) to automatically move money from a person’s bank account based on predefined parameters.

The current UK regulations mandate VRP to be used for ‘sweeping’ use cases, which describes moving money between two accounts in the same account holder name. However, more opportunities exist on the horizon and the same VRP technology can be used to replace Direct Debits, delegate SCA, and even allow for one-click payments online.

What are the benefits of VRPs and Sweeping? What are the use cases live today? What needs to happen next to keep the momentum going? What are the most exciting use cases that are emerging and are most likely to emerge over the next year? Are there any main risks that might need to be tackled?

Download The Payments Association Insights webinar to learn the real-world business benefits of VRPs for sweeping and hear our industry leaders and subject matter experts assessing what do customers stand to gain from VRP, what does VRP mean for merchants and where is the opportunity for banks.