• Nationwide, Santander and Barclays users can now test Yolt’s payment functionality
• New payee address book feature also makes paying friends and family even easier
• App-to-app redirect is now available for eight of the high street banks

Yolt, the smart thinking money app, today announced it has extended its payment test phase to UK customers who bank with Nationwide, Santander and Barclays. Following the successful launch of ‘Yolt Pay Beta’ just two months ago with six of the major high street banks, the app is now extending its test phase offering.

The expansion means that Yolt’s payment initiation service (PIS) will allow more users to view their accounts, initiate payments to friends and family, and move money between their own accounts, all powered by Open Banking. Nationwide, Santander and Barclays join Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, Halifax, RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank in the growing list of banks supported for payments in Yolt. Yolt’s beta phase provides UK users with the relevant banks the chance to trial the feature, provide feedback and ultimately aid in building and developing the new functionality.

This latest development is a testament to Yolt’s commitment to pioneering in the Open Banking space, shaped by its community. Utilising the power of APIs even further, Yolt has also launched a new payee address book feature, making paying friends and family easier than ever. Contacts that users have previously saved in their connected banking apps will now appear, pre-populated, within the Yolt app, saving users the hassle of adding account number and sort code.

Yolt also announced that it has further improved the payment initiation flow for the eight high street banks that have app-to-app redirect available. This marks an advancement in functionality meaning payments are now authenticated more quickly, easily and conveniently. 

Amy M., Yolt community member, said:

“Yolt Pay enables me to make my payments and transfers in one centralised location, instead of having to change between different apps to manage my finances. This has saved me so much time! The fact that this new feature is integrated within the existing app has allowed me to take control of my money and I look forward to future developments that will benefit the way I manage my finances.”

Connie S., also a Yolt community member, added:

“I’m married with five children and I’m currently trying to set up a business which will enable me to work from home. Yolt Pay is therefore a great addition to my banking experience as it’s a quick, simple and easy to use service – just like making payments should be. I no longer have to trawl through all my bank’s log in details, saving me precious time.”

Leon Muis, Chief Business Officer of Yolt, said:

“This is another great step for both Open Banking and Yolt’s payment journey. Yolt Pay Beta is instrumental in developing our payment functionality and we welcome Nationwide, Santander and Barclays to the testing journey. Collaboration is the key to success with Open Banking and the banking and fintech world are leading the way in developing propositions that provide the ultimate user experience.

“As always, a huge thank you to our Yolt community who continue to shape every aspect of the app. By working together, we will continue to pave the way in Open Banking and prove what is possible through the power of APIs.”

Matt Cox, Head of Open Banking, Nationwide said:

“The industry has worked extremely hard to define and provide clear, secure standards for Open Banking. Starting to enable Open Payments is key to creating Consumer value from this investment. It’s early days, but we can now see this coming through in propositions such as this.”