For merchants · Pay-in and pay-out
Open banking payments for merchants
A merchant moves payments in two directions. Customers pay in from their own bank, and the business has to pay out again: refunds, seller balances, partner splits. Open banking covers both legs on one integration, with a licensed PIS provider initiating each payment.
viaBanking does not hold funds and does not execute pay-outs. Every payment, inbound or outbound, is initiated by a licensed PIS provider and carried on bank rails.
Inbound payments
Pay in from the customer's bank
Three steps, and only the last one belongs to the merchant.
- 01
The customer picks their bank
At checkout the customer chooses to pay by bank, picking the account they want to pay from. The payment page never handles card details or banking credentials.
- 02
A licensed provider initiates the payment
That payment is initiated at the bank by a licensed PIS provider. Strong customer authentication runs inside the customer's own bank, which moves the payment on the rails banks use.
- 03
The credit is confirmed
viaBanking verifies through a licensed AIS provider that the credit reached your C2B account. That confirmation, not the initiation message, tells a merchant the payment arrived.
Outbound payments
Pay out to a bank account
The same path in reverse, with two checks before a pay-out is initiated.
- 01
The destination account is checked
Before a pay-out is initiated, the destination bank account is validated through the licensed provider. A pay-out aimed at a wrong account is caught before the payment moves, not after.
- 02
The inbound credit is confirmed first
Where a pay-out depends on money that came in, the platform confirms the C2B account credit first, so nothing leaves against a pay-in payment that has not landed.
- 03
A licensed provider initiates the pay-out
The pay-out is initiated by a licensed PIS provider and executed by the account-holding bank. viaBanking routes the payment instruction and reports status. It never moves funds or pays out for you.
Reach is not universal. A pay-out lands where a licensed provider covers the destination bank for that payment, and merchants use one coverage map for payments in both directions. The check is documented on the account verification page.
Payment speed
Instant where the rail is instant
Several European bank rails are instant credit transfer schemes. Where a payment runs on one of those instant payments rails, the transfer clears in seconds at any time of day. The speed belongs to the rail and to the banks on it.
We will not tell you every payment is instant. Initiation is quick in all cases, but whether a payment is usable on the receiving side in seconds or after the next cut-off depends on the rails both banks use and the time each takes. Your systems act on the confirmed credit.
One layer
One integration for pay-in and pay-out
Pay-in and pay-out use the same contract, the same keys and the same payment states.
- One API
Both directions, one contract
One integration carries pay-in and pay-out payments, so a merchant runs one payment stack and does not wire each bank one at a time.
- One model
The same status shape
All payments report the same states through the same signed callbacks, in real time, whether that payment was a pay-in or a pay-out.
- One ledger
Matched by reference
Use one reference across a pay-in and its pay-out, so a refund matches the payment it came from without a bank portal export.
FAQ
Straight answers
-
Are open banking payments instant?
Initiation is fast in every case. Clearing depends on the rail: on an instant payments scheme money moves in seconds, on other rails the cut-off times of both banks apply. viaBanking reports the confirmed credit rather than promising a payment settlement time.
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Who moves the money?
The banks do. A licensed PIS provider initiates each payment, and the account-holding banks execute that payment on the rails they use. viaBanking routes the instruction and confirms the credit. It does not hold funds and does not pay out.
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Can a merchant pay out to an account at any bank?
To any bank a licensed provider reaches in that market. Coverage grows as providers add the banks merchants use, and where a destination bank is not covered, those payments cannot be initiated.
Pay in and pay out on one integration
Tell us which markets your pay-ins come from and where your customer pay-outs need to land. We open sandbox access and the coverage picture for both legs. Smaller operations start on the small business page.
viaBanking is a software and technology provider. Regulated payment initiation and account information services are delivered by licensed partner institutions. viaBanking does not hold an AIS or PIS licence, does not execute bank payments or pay-outs, and does not hold or move funds.