Domopay, an Italy-based proptech company, and Salt Edge, an Open Banking provider, have announced a partnership to bring Pay by Bank functionality to rent collection in Italy. The companies stated that the collaboration processed the country's first rent payment carried out through open banking, marking a step in the digitalisation of a market that has largely relied on manual bank transfers.
Domopay combines Open Banking payments with tenant screening tools to support landlords and property managers in handling rental operations, including visibility over payment status and early identification of potential payment issues.
According to figures cited by the companies, the Italian rental market processes more than EUR 50 billion in annual rent payments. More than 90% of these payments are reportedly still made via traditional bank transfers, a method that requires manual reconciliation by landlords, tenants, and property managers.
With Salt Edge's Pay by Bank technology integrated into the Domopay platform, landlords and property owners can receive account-to-account rent transfers initiated directly by tenants through bank authorisation, rather than through manually entered transfers.
Fabrizio Raimondo, co-founder and CEO of Domopay, said the rental market had relied on manual processes for decades, with landlords checking accounts and reconciling payments by hand, and described the partnership as a step towards automating rent collection using open banking technology.
Virgiliu Bodrug, a Pay by bank expert at Salt Edge, said the partnership reflects the expansion of pay by bank into recurring, everyday payment use cases, noting that rent payments represent a process that has remained largely unchanged and that the collaboration aims to bring more convenience for tenants alongside greater visibility for landlords and property managers.
Implications across the rental chain
The companies outlined effects for each party involved in the rental process. Landlords are expected to benefit from more consistent payment collection, fewer manual data-entry errors, and real-time visibility over incoming transfers, along with the ability to set automated payment reminders for tenants.
Property managers are expected to gain visibility over individual payments, since rent transactions are typically directed to the property owner's account under the Pay by Bank model, allowing delays or missed payments to be identified earlier.
Tenants, meanwhile, can initiate and approve rent payments through bank authorisation, without manual data entry.
Rollout and next steps
Domopay said it is expanding its network of landlords and property managers across Italy, with additional product features planned for the second half of 2026 to support landlords throughout the leasing process. The company also works with Experian to combine rent collection with open banking-based tenant financial screening, intended to give landlords additional insight into tenants' financial standing.
