Open Banking in action – Starling and Yoyo welcome the changing regulatory landscape that will empower consumers

Starling Bank has entered into a first-of-its kind partnership with Yoyo Wallet, Europe’s fastest-growing mobile payment and loyalty marketing platform, to enable its customers to automatically reap the benefits of retailer-specific loyalty programmes every time they pay with Starling in Yoyo- accepting high street stores.

The partnership provides a glimpse of what the upcoming Open Banking framework will mean for consumer banking and represents a real-life, tangible example of the benefits that open and permissioned sharing of data can bring.

Yoyo currently delivers a seamless mobile payment and loyalty app experience for consumers at more than 2,000 retail outlets across the UK and Ireland. At the same time, Yoyo provides retailers with the tools to better engage, reward and retain their customers via mobile, and personalise the loyalty experience by linking their individual profile to their basket data.

From 24 November 2017, once an account has been linked and permissions have been granted by the user, every time a customer pays using Starling at Yoyo- accepting merchants, they will instantly earn retailer-specific loyalty points. These can be collected and exchanged for rewards, discounts and offers, through Yoyo’s partnerships with high street chains such as Planet Organic, Fernandez & Wells, Wrap It Up and HOP Vietnamese. The intergation is currently available for all Yoyo Wallet iOS users, with an Android integration available soon after.

Starling Bank is the first UK bank to be fully compliant in preparation for PSD2 – the EU wide directive – which will enable consumers to choose which third party providers they share thier data with and improve competition.
Starling Bank continues to lead the insurgent banks in developing partnerships to make banking work for the consumer, such as being the first UK bank to offer Apple, Android and Fitbit Pay, as well as launching the Marketplace, where customers will be able to access a wide range of financial products via their app.