TL;DR
TrueLayer is a UK-based open banking provider that offers instant bank payments, recurring payments, and payouts, all while reducing processing fees compared to traditional card payments.
Ivy, a top alternative, is an open banking solution that provides instant and recurring payments, fast payouts, high conversion rates, and fraud reduction, specifically designed to offer secure and low-cost transactions for businesses.
Yapily, Trustly, GoCardless, and Tink are other alternatives that enable businesses to securely process payments, offer recurring payment solutions, and access financial data insights.
As digital payments evolve, businesses and consumers are increasingly looking for payment solutions that decrease friction at checkout and bypass expensive intermediaries like credit card networks. In this guide, we’ll explore TrueLayer, an open banking payments provider, its features, fees, and the best TrueLayer alternatives to consider in 2025.
What is Truelayer?
TrueLayer is a UK-based open banking provider that enables businesses to accept instant bank payments. It connects with leading banks across Europe, allowing users to initiate transactions effortlessly. Merchants benefit from lower processing fees compared to traditional card payments. TrueLayer’s platform provides authentication and data-sharing services, ensuring compliance with open banking regulations for secure, transparent transactions.
TrueLayer Features
TrueLayer has a comprehensive open banking payments platform with the following features:
Payments: Instant bank-to-bank payments
Recurring Payments: TrueLayer combines Direct Debit and Recurring Payment (VRP) technologies to offer flexible recurring payments.
Payouts: Account-to-account payouts that settle in seconds.
TrueLayer Fees
TrueLayer’s plans and fees vary based on use case. Get in touch with them for more information.
Best TrueLayer Alternatives in 2025
Although TrueLayer is a popular open banking payments provider, there are quite a few alternatives available. We cover the best below.
Ivy
Ivy is redefining digital payments with its Open Banking-based solutions that cater to businesses of all sizes. With a focus on instant transactions, lower fees, and security, Ivy is a great alternative to traditional card and wallet-based payment methods.
Benefits
Coverage Champion: Ivy partners with top-tier local banks and Open Banking providers, ensuring businesses maximize their bank coverage.
Conversion Champion: With advanced smart routing technology, Ivy selects the best local Open Banking infrastructure for each transaction in real-time, achieving conversion rates of over 90%.
Enhanced User Experience: Returning customers benefit from pre-populated banking details, eliminating the need to select their bank repeatedly, thus streamlining the payment process.
Fraud Reduction: Ivy leverages Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)-compliant Open Banking payments to eliminate chargeback fraud.
Products
Instant Payments: Businesses can accept low-cost, real-time payments directly from customer bank accounts.
Recurring Payments: Ivy facilitates flexible, frictionless recurring transactions that are more secure than Direct Debit and cheaper than card payments.
Instant Payouts: Businesses can offer fast, reliable payouts to their customers with instant transaction processing.
Fees
Ivy offers custom pricing. Get in touch with us for more information here.
Yapily
Yapily is another well-known open banking platform offering direct API access to over 2,000 banks across Europe. It allows businesses to securely initiate payments and retrieve financial data.
Yapily’s solutions include instant payments, Variable Recurring Payments (VRP), bulk payments, account validation, customer data insights, and Yapily Connect for secure, regulated open banking access.
Trustly
Trustly is an open banking payment provider that enables consumers to make online payments directly from their bank accounts, eliminating the need for costly intermediaries like credit cards and digital wallets. With a network of over 12,000 banks, Trustly serves users in 33 countries.
Its comprehensive open banking platform offers instant payments that settle within seconds, facilitating seamless account-to-account transactions. Trustly also supports instant deposits to improve conversion rates and reduce friction while allowing businesses to send payouts instantly in any European currency. Additionally, it strengthens KYC and compliance by linking customer data to transactions and provides recurring payment solutions through Direct Debit mandates, minimizing manual input and reducing payment failures.
GoCardless
GoCardless is a payment platform that enables individuals to make direct bank payments, bypassing intermediaries like credit cards and digital wallets. It helps businesses streamline and automate payment collections, reducing costs and saving time.
GoCardless provides a variety of services, including recurring payments via Direct Debit, international transactions, and open banking solutions such as one-time payments and Variable Recurring Payments (VRP). It also offers payer verification through open banking, enhancing security and compliance.
Tink
Tink is an open banking platform that provides payment and financial data solutions, connecting with over 6,000 banks across Europe. It enables businesses to access real-time financial data and process direct bank payments, ensuring faster and more secure transactions while reducing reliance on traditional card networks.
Tink’s offerings include instant bank payments, Variable Recurring Payments (VRP), payouts, and risk management solutions. It also offers open banking data services such as transaction history, liabilities, account verification, risk insights, and financial management tools.
FAQs
Is TrueLayer safe?
Yes, TrueLayer is safe. It uses bank-grade encryption, complies with PSD2 regulations, and is authorized by financial regulators like the FCA. Its open banking technology prioritizes user privacy, making it a trusted provider for secure financial transactions.
What does TrueLayer do?
TrueLayer is an open banking platform that enables businesses to access financial data and process payments directly from bank accounts. It offers instant bank payments, account verification, and data insights, helping businesses streamline transactions, reduce fraud, and improve user experiences while complying with financial regulations like PSD2 across multiple markets.
How does TrueLayer work?
TrueLayer connects businesses to banks via open banking APIs, enabling secure access to financial data and direct bank payments. Users authenticate through their bank, allowing TrueLayer to process payments, verify accounts, and retrieve financial insights. It ensures compliance with PSD2 regulations while enhancing speed, security, and efficiency in transactions.
Additional Resources:
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Ivy GmbH or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
