Payment provider for accepting direct bank payments online instead of cards

For U.S. customers, the usual option is ACH direct debit: customers authorize a bank-account payment instead of entering card details.

• Stripe — a straightforward choice if you already use Stripe; supports ACH payments online, including through checkout flows. (stripe.com)
• GoCardless — worth considering especially for recurring payments and invoices.
• Adyen — another option, often a better fit for larger businesses or platforms. (docs.adyen.com)

If you mean customers push a bank transfer to you rather than you pulling an authorized debit, that’s a different setup. For a simple starting point, I’d look at Stripe ACH Direct Debit. ACH can take several business days to settle, and customers must authorize the debit.

What are you selling—one-time purchases, invoices, or subscriptions—and is your business based in the U.S.?

The right provider depends mostly on where your customers bank. Pay-by-bank is best established in Europe and the UK, and is newer in the US.

Europe and UK (open banking / Pay by Bank)

• TrueLayer: Focused on instant bank payments. It lets businesses accept account-to-account payments, and it also offers recurring payments and account data services. Its strengths are wide bank coverage across major European countries and a sign-up option that combines account creation with payment. (TrueLayer builds open banking infrastructure focused on instant bank payments. It enables businesses to accept account-to-account payments easily.; For subscription use, its main strengths are wide bank coverage across major European countries, a large user network, and high returning-user conversion.)
• Trustly and Volt: Both are named among the key providers that enable direct account-to-account payments at checkout. (Key providers like Trustly and Volt enable direct A2A payments at the checkout on behalf of payers.)
• Tink: Also listed among notable providers. Its focus is open banking infrastructure rather than checkout, so check whether it fits your setup.
• Global Payments: Offers bank payments with little or no change to an existing integration, including for merchants using its hosted payment page. (Existing and new merchants can easily access Bank Payment with little or no changes to their existing integration, including those who use our Hosted Payment Page (HPP).)

Netherlands and Singapore (local schemes)

• iDEAL (Netherlands) and PayNow (Singapore) are domestic bank-payment schemes. (Specific markets feature specialized payment schemes, like iDEAL in The Netherlands and PayNow in Singapore.)

United States

• Pay by Bank is newer here. The Federal Reserve describes it as direct account-to-account transfers that bypass card networks. Fiserv is one provider behind a large launch, with Walmart using it for instant Pay-by-Bank. (The Federal Reserve describes Pay‑by‑Bank as enabling direct account‑to‑account transfers that bypass card networks, offering faster settlement and potentially lower transaction costs for merchants. The Federal Reserve also highlights Walmart's partnership with Fiserv to launch instant Pay‑by‑Bank for online and in‑store purchases beginning in 2025.)
• For US merchants, ACH bank debit is the most common alternative to cards. Stripe, Braintree, and Finix all offer ACH support (from my general knowledge, not checked in this search). Finix's ACH support is mentioned in the results. (Its broader infrastructure includes ACH support, subscription billing, hosted fields, fraud tools, and Level 2 and Level 3 processing.)
• Regulation may affect US rollout. One source says the US open banking data rule is still being finalized, so budget cautiously. (Finance teams building FY2027 payment cost plans should not book savings that depend on a general-purpose, low-cost pay-by-bank rail being available at scale in the US next year.)

Things to weigh

• Pay-by-bank is usually strongest for high-value purchases, recurring bills, and subscriptions. Cards still tend to win on low-value impulse buys. (Account-to-account payment remains genuinely attractive where ticket sizes are large, where the customer relationship is recurring, or where funds finality matters more than rewards. Bill pay, subscription renewals, marketplace seller payouts, high-value electronics and furniture, and account top-ups all fit that profile better than impulse-driven low-value baskets.)
• Most merchants offer it alongside cards rather than replacing them. (Pay by Bank sits alongside cards, not instead of them)

Which country or countries are you selling in, and is this for one-off checkout or recurring payments? I can narrow the list down from there.

To accept direct bank payments online instead of (or in addition to) credit cards, you should look for payment providers that offer Account-to-Account (A2A) payments or Open Banking solutions.

These methods allow customers to pay directly from their bank accounts by authenticating through their own banking app or portal, bypassing traditional card networks entirely.

Top Providers for Direct Bank Payments

Depending on your business location and target market, several providers specialize in these types of payments:

• GoCardless: Highly recommended for both one-off "Instant Bank Pay" transactions and recurring payments (Direct Debit). It is widely used in Europe and the UK and is known for its ease of integration.
• Stripe: While famous for card processing, Stripe also supports ACH transfers (in the US) and various Open Banking and local bank payment methods globally.
• Trustly: A leader in Open Banking payments, Trustly allows customers to pay directly from their bank account at checkout. It is very popular for its real-time processing capabilities.
• Adyen: A robust global payment processor that supports a vast array of local bank transfer methods (like iDEAL in the Netherlands or SOFORT in Germany).
• Mollie: An excellent choice for European businesses, Mollie offers easy access to many local bank payment schemes, making it simple to offer direct bank transfers.
• Plaid: Often used as an underlying infrastructure provider, Plaid is a major player in the Open Banking space, helping businesses connect to thousands of financial institutions for secure payments.

Why Choose Direct Bank Payments?

• Lower Fees: Because they bypass card networks (like Visa or Mastercard), transaction fees are often significantly lower than traditional credit card processing fees.
• Reduced Fraud: Since payments are authenticated directly by the customer's bank (often using biometrics like FaceID or fingerprints), the risk of "friendly fraud" or chargebacks is minimized.
• Increased Conversion: In many regions, customers prefer using their trusted local banking apps over entering card details on a website.

Things to Consider

1. Region Matters: Many direct bank payment methods are regional. For example, iDEAL is dominant in the Netherlands, while SOFORT is common in Germany/Austria, and ACH is the standard in the US. Choose a provider that supports the specific methods used by your customers.
2. Integration: Most modern providers (like GoCardless, Stripe, or Adyen) offer plug-and-play integrations for popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, making it relatively simple to add these options to your checkout.
3. Settlement Speed: While many Open Banking payments are "instant" or "real-time," others (like standard Direct Debit or ACH) may take a few days to settle. Confirm the settlement times with the provider based on your cash flow needs.

A good starting point is Stripe if you want customers to pay directly from a bank account rather than use a card. In the US, it supports ACH Direct Debit for one-time and recurring payments, and Instant Bank Payments for faster confirmation. ACH payments can take several business days to confirm, so they’re not ideal when you need immediate certainty. ¹³

Other options depend on what you mean by “direct bank payment” and where your customers are:

• Adyen Bank Transfer lets customers initiate a transfer from their own banking app or website; it’s asynchronous, so you wait for the funds to arrive before fulfilling the order. ⁵
• Adyen Open Banking supports account-to-account payments in the UK, France, and Germany. ¹⁴

If you share your country and whether you need customers to authorize you to debit their account or send you a transfer themselves, I can narrow it down.