Mastercard has joined forces with UK-based fintech Cardstream to enhance open banking adoption through Cardstream’s Payment Facilitation-as-a-Service (PFaaS) platform. The partnership aims to expand payment options for merchants and consumers, with support for single immediate payments and future-ready solutions like variable recurring payments.
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MastercardA Strategic Push Toward Open Banking
In a major move to broaden the reach of open banking in the UK, Mastercard has announced a new partnership with British fintech Cardstream. The collaboration will allow Cardstream to integrate open banking into its white-label Payment Facilitation-as-a-Service (PFaaS) platform, enabling acquirers, payment facilitators, and channels to offer open banking payment solutions to merchants and retailers nationwide.
As the financial services landscape continues to evolve, this initiative reflects Mastercard’s growing commitment to providing secure, flexible, and inclusive payment experiences beyond traditional cards. “There’s strong demand for open banking payments as a secure and convenient way to pay alongside cards,” said Adam Sharpe, CEO of Cardstream.
Benefits for Merchants and Consumers
The partnership enables merchants using Cardstream’s platform to accept pay-by-bank options alongside debit cards, credit cards, and other payment methods. These open banking capabilities support single immediate payments (SIPs)and lay the groundwork for variable recurring payments (VRPs) — a new method expected to gain traction by late 2025, allowing consumers to pay for ongoing services directly from their bank accounts.
This added flexibility helps businesses improve customer experience while reducing transaction fees associated with card processing. For consumers, it introduces a streamlined and bank-direct payment method, offering enhanced control over their spending.
Bridging the Awareness Gap in Open Banking
While open banking offers clear advantages, its adoption still faces significant hurdles — primarily due to limited consumer awareness. A recent study by PYMNTS Intelligence and Trustly found that 56% of consumers are unfamiliar with the concept of “pay by bank.” However, the same research indicates that strategic incentives, such as cashback offers and loyalty rewards, can drive a 72% increase in consumer interest.
This insight underscores the need for fintech players to combine technological enablement with marketing engagement, highlighting practical uses of open banking beyond traditional retail, including subscriptions, utilities, and digital services.
A Growing Market Across Europe
According to Valerie Nowak, Head of Open Banking APEMEA at Mastercard, the European market is on the brink of a significant open banking expansion. The Mastercard-Cardstream alliance positions both companies to capitalize on this growth, especially as the UK prepares to lead the rollout of advanced open banking solutions.
With this partnership, Mastercard continues to build on its previous innovations such as Click to Pay and network tokenization, while Cardstream cements its role as a key player in next-generation payment infrastructure.
Looking Ahead
As open banking payments shift from concept to reality, collaborations like Mastercard and Cardstream’s are set to reshape the payment ecosystem in the UK and beyond. By empowering merchants and educating consumers, this partnership not only expands payment choice — it paves the way for a more transparent, efficient, and digitally native financial future.
Source: Cardstrea / Mastercard.
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