What Is Open Banking — And Should Small Businesses Be Paying Attention?

You’ve probably seen it at an online checkout recently: “Pay by Bank” right next to the usual Visa, Mastercard, or Apple Pay options. That’s Open Banking in action.

It might sound like a finance industry buzzword, but it’s quietly becoming one of the most important developments in how money moves, and for local small businesses, it offers a real chance to reduce costs and modernise payment options.

But like all technology shifts, it comes with questions too — especially around privacy, data, and control. Let’s break it down.

💡 So, What Is Open Banking?

At its core, Open Banking lets customers securely connect their bank accounts to apps and services they trust, with full control and consent.

Instead of every transaction flowing through traditional card networks (like Visa or Mastercard), Open Banking allows people to authorise payments directly from their bank account using their own banking app.

It’s already been adopted by most UK banks, and used by millions of consumers online.

🏪 Why It Matters for Small Businesses

For many small businesses, accepting card payments means losing a slice of every sale to processing fees — sometimes up to 2% or more.

Open Banking can help by:

✅ Lowering payment processing costs ✅ Removing the need for expensive hardware or card terminals ✅ Giving businesses more control over how they get paid ✅ Making the payment experience mobile-first and fast

And for customers? It’s a familiar, secure experience usually confirmed with Face ID or fingerprint in their bank app with no need to type in the bank details of the recipient, like a regular bank transfer. 🧠 But What About the Data Side of Open Banking?

Of course Open Banking isn’t just about payments. It can also allow apps (with permission) to access customer financial data like spending categories, income patterns, or transaction histories.

In the right hands, this opens up powerful opportunities for:

• Budgeting apps to give smarter insights

• Businesses to offer personalised rewards

• Credit providers to make fairer lending decisions

But here’s the important bit: not everyone is comfortable with sharing that level of data even with consent.

For many customers (and small businesses), there’s a growing concern about:

⚠️ Data being collected without clear benefit ⚠️ Financial profiling used for upselling or ad targeting ⚠️ Complex T&Cs that blur the line between convenience and exploitation

🔒 Where Burdi Stands

At Burdi, we believe Open Banking should serve local businesses and not take advantage of their customers. Right now, we only use Open Banking for payments, not for collecting or analysing personal bank data.

There’s no tracking of your bank account's spending history, no storing of your bank account's activity, and no data-driven profiling behind the scenes using that data.

We believe loyalty should be earned, not engineered. In the future, we may explore how Open Banking data could responsibly improve reward personalisation but only if it clearly benefits users and respects their privacy.

For now, our focus is simple:

💙 Offering a lower-cost way to get paid in-store

💙 Making it easy for customers to support local

💙 Building trust with clear, transparent tools

✅ Final Thought

Open Banking has a lot of potential but like all new tech, it’s only as good as how it’s used. At Burdi, we’re bringing Open Banking to the high street in a way that’s transparent, respectful, and focused on real-world benefits for small businesses.

If you’re a local venue looking to cut costs, modernise your checkout, and offer customers a smarter way to pay we’d love to help.

👉 [Book a free demo here] 👉 Learn more about Burdi for Business