Amazon has introduced Pay by Bank, a payment method enabling UK customers to complete purchases directly from their bank accounts without using payment cards.
Following this announcement, the initiative will focus on allowing customers to connect their UK bank accounts for retail transactions, with support for Prime membership payments expected to follow. The payment method establishes a direct connection between customers and their banks, removing the requirement to enter or store card details on Amazon's platform.
Refunds and account integration
According to the official press release, Pay by Bank was developed in order to process refunds within minutes once Amazon confirms receipt of returned items, compared to standard card refund timelines which typically span several business days. The service relies on customers' existing banking authentication systems, including biometric verification or PIN entry through their bank's mobile application.
The payment method covers more than 99% of UK banks, according to Amazon. Customers will have the possibility to select their bank from a list during setup, in a secure and efficient manner. As the service connects directly to bank accounts rather than cards with expiration dates, payment credentials will not require periodic updates. At the same time, all purchases made through Pay by Bank are expected to be protected by Amazon's A-to-Z Guarantee for items that fail to arrive or match their description, alongside the platform's standard return and refund policies. UK Payment Services Regulations will provide additional consumer protections for up to 13 months.
Regulatory alignment
The launch aligns with the UK's National Payment Vision framework, which promotes account-to-account (A2A) payment adoption in ecommerce. The framework forms part of the UK's strategy to develop payment infrastructure that supports efficiency, security, and competition in the digital payments ecosystem.
Pay by Bank represents a shift toward direct bank integration in retail payments, bypassing traditional card networks. The approach reflects broader market movement toward Open Banking-enabled payment solutions, which allow merchants to access customer bank accounts through regulated APIs following customer authorisation.
The service's authentication process will operate through customers' banking applications rather than Amazon's platform, positioning transaction security within existing bank infrastructure. This architecture distributes authentication responsibility between the merchant and financial institutions, a model increasingly common in markets with mature Open Banking frameworks.
Furthermore, Amazon has not disclosed transaction volumes, processing fees, or commercial terms associated with Pay by Bank. The company also has not specified a timeline for extending the service beyond UK retail purchases to Prime membership payments.
