Pay by Account (Open Banking GBP) 🇬🇧

Pay by Account (Open Banking) enables a seamless, app-to-app payment experience by leveraging the UK's secure Open Banking infrastructure. Instead of manually entering card details, customers authorize a direct transfer within their own banking application. This results in instant settlement via Faster Payments (FPS) and a high-security, low-friction checkout for your users.

Why Choose Pay by Account?

For merchants targeting the UK market, Open Banking provides a strategic advantage over traditional card schemes:

• Instant Settlement — Funds move via Faster Payments, providing immediate access to capital in your Leatherback GBP wallet.
• Zero Chargebacks — Since the user must explicitly authorize the payment via their bank's Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), the risk of "friendly fraud" is virtually eliminated.
• Higher Conversion — No manual data entry. Users pay with a few taps or biometric scans (FaceID/Fingerprint) on their mobile device.
• Lower Cost — Pay by Account typically carries significantly lower processing fees compared to standard credit and debit card processing.

The Two-Step Integration Flow

Integrating Pay by Account is a straightforward process involving an initial request to generate an authorization link followed by a status verification.

Step 1: Initiate the Payment

Call the Initiate Payment API in a POST request to begin the Open Banking flow. Set the channel to PayByAccount and the currency to GBP.

curl --request POST \
     --url https://laas.leatherback.co/api/payment/pay/initiate \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '{
    "amount": 1,
    "channel": "PayByAccount",
    "currency": "GBP",
    "link": {
        "alias": "0-k2tmbuy"
    }, // Only Required if payment is for a payment link
    "userInformation": {
        "firstName": "Dave",
        "lastName": "MC",
        "emailAddress": "[email protected]",
        "phone": "070000000"
    }
}'

{
  "value": {
    "paymentStatus": "REQUIRE_BANK_AUTH",
    "message": "Payment initiated successfully. Kindly click on the link to complete your payment",
    "paymentItem": {
      "channel": "PayByAccount",
      "message": "Payment initiated successfully. Kindly click on the link to complete your payment",
      "amount": 1,
      "fees": 0,
      "reference": "TZ2ZFLPMU39GDPG",
      "paymentReference": "TZ2ZFLPMU39GDPG",
      "metaData": {
        "AuthUrl": "https://cdn.plaid.com/link/v2/stable/link.html?isWebview=false&token=link-development-39c7f73c-0b44-43b9-b3e3-d2cae8e1dc45"
      }
    }
  },
  "isSuccess": true
}

Handling the Redirect

The API response returns an AuthUrl within the paymentItem.metaData object:

• Automatic Redirect — By default, redirect the user to the AuthUrl to complete the payment at their bank.
• Manual Control — If you prefer the payment page to close automatically without a redirect, set the redirect parameter to false in the metaData before loading the AuthUrl.

Step 2: Verify Transaction Status

Once the customer completes the authorization at their bank and returns to your site, call the Get Transaction Status API to confirm the final state of the payment.

{
  "value": {
    "paymentReference": "TVI1HLDDNATWSPG",
    "amount": {
      "currencyCode": "NGN",
      "amount": 100
    },
    "paymentStatus": "Successfull"
  },
  "isSuccess": true
}