Building a Low-Cost Payments Platform with Open Banking
Co-founded and built a recurring payments platform that leveraged direct debit and Open Banking infrastructure to reduce transaction costs compared to traditional card networks.
Overview
As part of a four-person founding team, built a platform designed to simplify recurring payments for both merchants and consumers. The vision was to create a payment network that avoided traditional card rails whenever possible, reducing fees while maintaining a seamless payment experience.
Problem
Recurring payments are fragmented between payment providers, banks, merchants, and customers. Existing solutions often optimize for only one side of the transaction while introducing significant processing fees. The challenge was designing a system that could provide a better experience while leveraging modern banking infrastructure.
Approach
Designed and implemented payment flows based on Open Banking and direct debit mechanisms, including customer bank account connectivity, recurring payment authorization, settlement workflows, merchant tooling, and customer-facing experiences. Worked directly with potential customers to validate product assumptions and refine the platform.
Outcomes
- Built a functional payments platform from scratch with a team of four engineers.
- Implemented bank connectivity and recurring payment workflows.
- Explored alternatives to traditional card-based payment networks.
- Validated the concept through customer conversations and market research.
- Gained experience across engineering, product design, and early-stage startup execution.
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