NatWest and TrueLayer conduct first series of variable recurring payment transactions

Open banking platform TrueLayer and UK banking giant NatWest have made the industry’s first open banking variable recurring payment (VRP) transactions.

TrueLayer says VRPs are the beginning of an open banking revolution

VRPs are the next phase of open banking, mandated by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

VRP APIs allow third-party providers (TPP) to initiate a series of payments at variable intervals, enabling the adoption of faster, more efficient and more secure payments.

NatWest, having developed its VRP API ahead of schedule, is the first of the nine largest UK banks to conduct VRP transactions in a live environment, as opposed to a sandbox. VRPs are scheduled to be introduced in 2022.

Under the current system, TPPs can only initiate single immediate payments and customers have to authenticate each payment separately.

The new requirement from the CMA means TPPs can provide recurring payments for any customer that banks with one of the nine largest UK banks.

NatWest head of the bank of APIs Daniel Globerson says VRP “has huge potential to benefit consumers and businesses” and “demonstrates the value of industry collaboration, which is crucial if open banking is going to evolve into open finance”.

TrueLayer product lead for VRP Matt Parish says VRPs are the beginning of an open banking revolution, having been discussed for years. “Now we need to test these APIs to be thoroughly prepared and ensure they deliver on their promise for consumers.”