Segpay expands account-to-account payments across six EU markets

Digital payment processor Segpay has extended its Pay by Bank product to six additional European markets, expanding beyond its initial presence in Germany and the UK.

The new markets include Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain. The service enables consumers to pay merchants directly from their bank accounts without using card networks.

The offering is powered by TrueLayer and operates over real-time payment rails — SEPA Instant across the European Union and Faster Payments in the UK.

Customers select their bank at checkout and authenticate the transaction through their mobile banking app, typically using biometric verification such as facial or fingerprint recognition.

Funds move directly between bank accounts, bypassing card networks entirely. Merchants gain access to native refund functionality while eliminating exposure to card network chargebacks.

Segpay president and CEO Cathy Beardsley highlighted the demand for payment alternatives beyond credit cards.

Not every customer wants to pay with a credit card, and we want to make sure our merchants have options. Pay by Bank gives them another way to accept payments, without the chargeback concerns that come with traditional card transactions.

The solution supports one-time transactions only, settled in € (EUR) and £ (GBP). Merchants can deploy it across Segpay's One-Time, Digital Purchase, and Dynamic Pricing billing structures, though recurring billing models are not yet supported.

Segpay's expansion follows similar moves by other providers. Earlier this year, Brite Payments launched its own Pay by Bank service in the UK after obtaining an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from the Financial Conduct Authority.

The proliferation of account-to-account payment offerings reflects growing merchant interest in alternatives to card-based acceptance, particularly for reducing dispute-related losses and processing costs.