Pay by Bank: A unified Open Banking path from account validation to near-instant checkout

The business problem: fragmented money movement is expensive

Most organizations don’t set out to build a payments stack; they inherit one. A little card processing here, a patchwork of bank transfer options there, manual account entry for onboarding, and a growing backlog of exceptions for operations teams. The result is familiar: preventable drop-off at checkout, failed payments from incorrect account details, and reconciliation that still feels like an afterthought.

Customers expect immediacy. They want to see a payment succeed now, not "in a few days." They want refunds to land predictably. That is the gap Pay by Bank is designed to close: a unified Open Banking API capability that treats account connectivity and payment execution as one continuous experience, not two separate programs stitched together later.

Introducing Pay by Bank: one API for account visibility and near-instant pay-ins

J.P. Morgan's Pay by Bank allows businesses to access account information and initiate payments through a single Open Banking API built on two complementary services.

Account Information Service (AIS) is how you retrieve and validate account data, balances, transaction history and account details, through a consent-driven flow, in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Payment Initiation Service (PIS) is how you collect funds directly from a customer bank account through a hosted payment experience, initiated with a single API request, with near-instant payment status and support for refunds back to the originating account, subject to applicable terms and regulatory requirements.

Together, AIS and PIS let you design an experience that starts with verified connectivity and ends with confirmed payment, without forcing customers to switch channels or accept ambiguity.

AIS: from manual account capture to consented, near-instant verification

AIS is the foundation for reducing friction and risk in any flow that depends on bank account correctness. Instead of relying on error-prone form fields and delayed verification, AIS allows secure and near-instant access to permitted account details. This supports account validation checks, balance inquiries and transaction history retrieval to inform decisioning and reduce downstream failures.

The workflow follows a clear model: you initiate consent, you retrieve account information, and you receive near-instant status updates through callbacks or manual status checks. That callback pattern matters operationally. It moves your platform away from polling and hoping, toward automated orchestration that updates onboarding state or payment eligibility the moment a financial institution responds.

PIS: near-instant checkout without the uncertainty

PIS changes the economics and experience of collecting funds. With one API request, you connect the customer to a hosted payment experience that guides them through paying using their chosen banking app, with transparent tracking replacing the old "submit and wait" pattern.

Refunds can be issued directly to the originating account, helping ensure funds are returned predictably and simplifying reconciliation. For recurring commerce, Pay by Bank also supports payment mandates set up with full customer consent, making subscription management both straightforward and operationally sound.

What you can build

Pay by Bank supports a range of high value use cases:

• Modernize customer onboarding with near-instant account verification
• Strengthen fraud prevention through account validation at the point of entry
• Enable payments at checkout with near-instant confirmation
• Streamline refunds and payouts with simplified reconciliation

Ready to build?

Check out our documentation and connect with your J.P. Morgan representative to explore how AIS and PIS can transform your payments experience.

PIS is currently available in the EU and U.K. Businesses should confirm market availability and regulatory requirements with their J.P. Morgan representative before planning implementation.