Brite Payments Brings European Pay-by-Bank Network to the UK

Swedish fintech Brite Payments is expanding into the UK, bringing its Pay-by-Bank infrastructure to one of Europe’s most established open banking markets. The move follows the company securing authorisation as an electronic money institution from the Financial Conduct Authority.

This launch gives UK merchants access to Brite’s account-to-account payment infrastructure through a single integration, with the company aiming to connect domestic UK payments with its wider European network.

Founded in 2019 by former Klarna executive Lena Hackelöer, Brite operates across 27 European markets and connects to more than 3,800 banks. Its infrastructure combines open banking, local payment rails, and its proprietary Brite Instant Payments Network, known as IPN.

Entering the UK Pay-by-Bank market

Brite’s UK expansion arrives as Pay-by-Bank becomes an increasingly established alternative to card payments. Under the company’s model, customers select Brite at checkout, choose their bank, and authenticate the payment through their bank’s normal security process. Brite says it doesn’t see or store customers’ online banking credentials at any point.

The UK launch will initially involve a phased rollout to merchants and consumers. For businesses, Brite says a single API integration will let them accept Pay-by-Bank payments in the UK while also accessing its broader European payment network.

That approach aims to reduce the need for merchants operating across multiple markets to manage separate local payment providers and payment integrations.

A single connection across UK and European payments

The key proposition behind Brite’s UK expansion is connectivity. Rather than treating the UK as an isolated market, the company wants merchants to use one payment integration across both domestic and international transactions.

Brite currently connects to more than 3,800 banks across Europe and operates in 27 markets. Its infrastructure uses local payment rails alongside open banking and its own IPN system. For merchants expanding internationally, this could reduce some of the operational complexity that comes with supporting different payment methods in different countries.

The company says its UK offering will let businesses offer Pay-by-Bank to UK customers while extending that same capability to customers across its wider European network.

FCA authorization gives Brite a UK regulatory base.

This UK launch also gives Brite a local regulatory presence. Brite Payments Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money institution, with the company listing UK authorisation number FRN 1033237 on its UK website.

This regulatory status matters, since payment providers operating in the UK must meet requirements covering areas such as safeguarding, security, consumer protection, and payment services. For Brite, this authorization provides the regulatory foundation for its UK product rollout.

The company previously operated primarily through its Swedish regulatory framework and European market coverage. Its UK entity now gives it a dedicated base for expansion into the British payments market specifically.

Pay-by-bank challenges card-based checkout

Brite is entering a market where card payments remain deeply established, but open banking has created another route for online transactions. Pay-by-bank lets consumers authorize a payment directly from their bank account, instead of entering card details manually.

Brite’s model uses the customer’s existing bank authentication process. The company says users don’t need to create a Brite account or download an additional app to use it. For merchants, account-to-account payments can also offer a different cost and settlement structure than traditional card transactions.

Brite says its model provides fast fund settlement and zero chargebacks, while its UK website states that consumers aren’t charged directly for using the payment initiation service. These characteristics are becoming increasingly relevant as merchants look for alternatives to traditional card payment infrastructure.

Brite’s European network becomes the bigger proposition.

This UK launch isn’t simply about adding another country to Brite’s footprint. The larger proposition is the ability to connect UK merchants to an existing European payment network. Brite says its infrastructure already covers 27 European markets and more than 3,800 banks.

That network could become particularly relevant for businesses with customers in multiple European markets. Instead of integrating separately with different local Pay-by-Bank providers, merchants could potentially use Brite as a single connectivity layer instead. The company says this is designed to help merchants avoid juggling local providers, legacy contracts, and separate payment integrations.

Open banking becomes payment infrastructure.

Brite’s expansion also highlights how open banking is moving well beyond data access and account aggregation. Payment initiation has become one of the more commercially visible applications of open banking today.

With Pay-by-Bank, the bank account becomes the payment instrument, while open banking infrastructure connects the customer, bank, and merchant behind the scenes. Brite describes itself as an instant account-to-account payment provider, using open banking alongside local payment rails and its proprietary IPN.

This model also fits with the broader growth of account-to-account payments across Europe. As instant payment infrastructure develops, payment providers can increasingly build services around faster account-to-account movement, rather than relying exclusively on card networks.

Brite plans a phased UK rollout.

Brite’s UK launch will be phased, with the company beginning to roll out its products to merchants and consumers gradually. The company already promotes Pay-by-Bank in the UK through its website, where it says customers can select their bank, authenticate through their bank’s security process, and receive payment confirmation.

Brite also says its UK and European network connects customers to thousands of banks in total. This rollout will therefore test how well the company’s existing European payment infrastructure translates into the UK market specifically.

What the UK expansion means for merchants

For merchants, the potential benefit is primarily integration and reach. A business selling to customers in Britain and continental Europe could use Brite’s infrastructure to support Pay-by-Bank without building separate integrations for each market.

That could simplify payment operations considerably as businesses expand internationally. This proposition is particularly relevant to sectors where instant account-to-account payments and fast settlement can influence customer experience and operational costs. Brite’s existing network includes payment capabilities for online merchants, with the company positioning instant payments and payouts as core products.

Brite targets a mature open banking market.

The UK represents a significant test for Brite, since it’s already one of Europe’s more developed open banking markets. The company is therefore entering an environment where consumers, banks, and merchants are already familiar with account-to-account payment concepts.

That creates an opportunity but also a real competitive challenge. Brite will need to differentiate its offering not simply through access to open banking, but through the breadth of its network, merchant integration, settlement capabilities, reliability, and cross-border reach. Its European footprint gives the company one clear differentiator: connecting UK Pay-by-Bank with payment capabilities across other European markets.

The next stage for Pay-by-Bank

Brite’s UK expansion illustrates a broader shift happening in European payments. Open banking initially gained attention as a way for third parties to access financial data. Increasingly, though, the infrastructure is being used to move money directly between bank accounts instead.

At the same time, instant payment rails are changing expectations around how quickly transactions should settle. Brite is positioning its network right at the intersection of those two developments. Its UK launch brings together FCA-regulated payment services, open banking, Pay-by-Bank, instant payments, and cross-border connectivity in one package.

The company’s ability to turn that infrastructure into meaningful merchant adoption will now be the next real test. For UK businesses, the proposition is straightforward: connect once to Brite and gain access to Pay-by-Bank locally, while also connecting to a broader European payment network at the same time.

As competition grows around account-to-account payments, the UK could become an important market for Brite’s next phase of expansion.

Brite Payments brings the international Pay-by-Bank network to the UK

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