Open Banking and iGaming: How PSD2 A2A Payments Are Transforming Deposits

Open Banking — the regulatory framework that requires banks to share customer data and enable third-party payment initiation with customer consent — has produced one of the most significant structural changes to iGaming deposit infrastructure in the past decade. Account-to-account (A2A) payments via Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) are growing rapidly as a share of iGaming deposits across the UK and European markets, driven by their commercial advantages for operators and the improving player experience as mobile banking authentication has matured. This guide covers the technical, commercial, and regulatory dimensions of open banking in iGaming.

The PSD2 and UK PSR Framework

Open banking in the EU is enabled by the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) — Directive 2015/2366/EU — implemented in the UK by the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSR17). PSD2 and PSR17 created two new regulated third-party provider categories:

Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) are authorised to initiate payment transactions from a customer's bank account, with the customer's explicit consent, on behalf of a merchant. In the iGaming context, a PISP enables a player to authorise a deposit directly from their bank account by authenticating through their mobile banking app — without sharing their card details or banking credentials with the gambling operator.

Account Information Service Providers (AISPs) can access account information (transaction history, balance, account holder name) from a customer's bank, again with explicit consent. In iGaming, AISPs provide source of funds and income verification data — an operator can verify a player's income by reviewing their transaction history rather than requesting payslips.

Both categories require authorisation from the FCA (in the UK) or the relevant national competent authority in each EU member state. Major open banking providers used in iGaming — Trustly, TrueLayer, Volt, Token.io, and Plaid — hold PSD2/PSR17 authorisations and provide APIs that operators integrate to offer bank transfer deposits.

The iGaming Open Banking Journey

The open banking deposit journey in a well-integrated iGaming implementation takes under 30 seconds for a returning player whose bank is pre-selected. The flow is:

• Player selects "Pay by Bank" and enters deposit amount
• PISP redirects player to their bank's authentication screen (or app deep link for mobile)
• Player authenticates using biometric (fingerprint/Face ID) or PIN
• Player confirms the payment instruction showing the amount, payee, and reference
• PISP receives payment confirmation and notifies the operator's platform
• Deposit is credited to the player's account — typically within seconds via Faster Payments (UK) or SCT Inst (EU)

This flow is arguably more frictionless than card entry for returning players — no card number to enter, no 3D Secure authentication delay. The bank's biometric authentication satisfies Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements under PSR17 Schedule 6, so no additional SCA layer is needed from the operator.

Commercial Advantages for Operators

No chargebacks: A2A payments via Faster Payments or SEPA Instant are irrevocable once settled. The player's bank sends the funds directly to the operator's account; there is no dispute mechanism equivalent to a card chargeback. Eliminating chargeback risk on open banking volume reduces fraud losses and protects the acquirer relationship for remaining card volume.

Lower transaction costs: Open banking PISP fees are typically 0.1–0.5% of transaction value, substantially below the 1.5–3% card acquiring rate for MCC 7995. For an operator processing £1 million in monthly deposits, shifting 30% of volume to open banking at a 2% cost saving generates £6,000 in monthly savings — significant at scale.

Instant settlement: Faster Payments deposits settle in seconds, providing immediate confirmation to the player and immediate availability of funds in the operator's player fund account. Card settlements arrive from the acquirer one to three days later, requiring the operator to fund player balances from its own float during the settlement gap.

Identity verification signal: An open banking deposit from a named personal account provides a high-confidence identity signal — the bank has already verified the account holder's identity through its own KYC processes. Many operators now use the bank account name returned by the PISP as the primary identity confirmation for initial account verification, reducing friction in the KYC journey.

Responsible Gambling Considerations

The frictionless nature of open banking deposits has been flagged by gambling harm researchers and the UKGC as a potential concern. The traditional friction of card entry — manually typing a 16-digit card number, expiry date, and CVV — provided a small but non-trivial pause that may reduce impulsive deposits for at-risk gamblers. Open banking biometric authentication is faster and more automatic, potentially reducing this behavioural friction.

The UKGC has not mandated specific friction requirements for open banking but expects operators to consider payment method friction in their responsible gambling framework. Some operators have introduced voluntary cooling periods or confirmation steps for open banking deposits by players flagged as at risk, while retaining the speed benefits for the general population. The AISM (Account Information Service Management) capability — which allows operators to view a player's recent bank transaction history with consent — is increasingly used as a source of funds signal, with incoming salary credits and overall spending patterns providing context for deposit volume assessments.