Review of Trustly Payment Technology for Modern Online Business

In the dynamic fintech industry, payment systems are constantly evolving, and new payment methods are continually being developed to meet demands of users, sometimes even surpass them.

We aim to keep our readers constantly informed about new (and old) payment methods, so we have launched "Payment Systems" section in Mono Talks, where we publish our reviews. Each review is written from personal experience, and although we strive to be fair, it may include individual opinions formed over years of working in the industry. Today, we will review Trustly.

In the review, we will discuss the history and main features of payment method, as well as touch on competitors.

How Trustly Works

Trustly payment instrument allows you to make payment from a bank account, without being dependent on any bank, and processes the transaction within its own system, protecting data transfer with special encryption. To use Trustly, no registration or additional actions are required, making it very convenient for mass implementation, both for individuals and businesses. The company claims to have integration with more than 12,000 banks worldwide, allowing it to initiate payments almost anywhere and do so by securely exchanging data with these banks.

Payment process appears quite simple. In case of a merchant, payer must select Trustly payment method and will then be redirected to the payment page of their bank, previously selected from a dropdown list of available options. After that, client will need to log into their personal banking cabinet and confirm already created payment. In simple terms, Trustly is very similar to technology of open banking and provides the same payment flow. 

The company, operating Trustly, was founded in Sweden in 2008 and is licensed by Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, which adds credibility to the system. Today, payment method is actively operating in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Australia, Canada, and the USA. Trustly payment method is currently accepted by nearly 9,000 merchants worldwide, and this number is constantly growing.

Trustly has made a significant impact in gaming industry, being one of the first to offer such a convenient payment method, and operators were eager to offer it to their gamers. Since speed and efficiency of payments are always a priority for gaming sites, Trustly could seemingly solve this problem, so it appeared that this cooperation was inevitable. The solution named Pay N Play was specifically designed by Trustly for gaming websites and combines payment method and an anti-fraud instrument for user verification. 

Payment process is integrated into registration form on the website, similar to registration via phone number or social media. Besides these two methods, player can choose the option "register via Pay N Play." Thanks to the integration with banks that Trustly has, company can immediately know the name of client and verify that they indeed own the bank account from which the first deposit will be made. The entire process takes just minutes. As a result, during first deposit process, a new account is created on the website, which undergoes verification for authenticity and identity verification of user, then funds are immediately added to the balance. Thus, three separate actions are combined into one, allowing the gaming website to increase conversion rates in registration and deposit, as well as be more competitive.

This solution has remained unique for many years, but in 2024, new payment system Noda (a provider of open banking) announced creation of a competitive analog service — Pay&Go. Whether this solution will be available to offshore companies or not, as well as reviews of its operation, have not yet been disclosed to us. However, it has certainly interested merchants, as Trustly for this market has long been unrivaled.

Currently, Trustly is only available to regulated brands on legal gambling markets and low-risk products. The payment system fully complies with local and international laws and carefully verifies business partners.

Main Pros and Cons of Trustly Payment Method

Let's consider positive and negative aspects of this payment method from the perspective of our merchant clients and how beneficial this solution is for business.

The main advantages include:

• Instant payouts to the merchant's account as soon as the transaction is successful and acquiring is completed. Access to funds from cards acquiring usually opens over time, which can often negatively affect the daily operational activities of business, especially if we are talking about startups. Here, Trustly is undoubtedly on a higher level and offers financial freedom to its merchants, providing immediate access to funds that can be used for daily business activities, paying expenses, or investments.
• Enhanced security of payments through Trustly system using verification of users, and direct communication with banks. All this provides confidence that fraud will be minimized and payment will undergo a series of checks. The user can make payment only from their bank account, confirming this with a login and password to the online banking system. Similar measures reduce risks of fraud that often occur with bank cards or using fake names.
• The wide network of coverage with 12,000 banks worldwide is also a significant advantage for business and the reason to accept Trustly payment method on the website. With high probability, user will find their bank in the list of available options and will be able to make a payment very quickly.

However, for a comprehensive study of payment method, we will not forget about its potential drawbacks. 

It is important to consider:

• Limited available markets may become a significant drawback, as Trustly does not cover the whole world. This means the solution will be beneficial only for certain markets and will not become the main payment method for you. It can be considered a good addition, but not the main one.
• No option for anonymous payment, if we are talking about gaming industry. Since the entire payment is based on open data exchange, hiding the identity of payer will not be possible. Some users choose electronic wallets to not disclose their personal and banking data on gaming sites, and instead, use wallet ID or email address for electronic payment. Although data exchange is also high security from fraud, not all gamers will see this as an advantage, and many will still look for more anonymous solutions.
• Limited choice of payment options, to be more precise, the ability to make a payment only from a bank account. In the case of an online business, it’s better to offer a range of payment methods, not just one of them. Therefore, Trustly will be one among them, but not the main one.

Trustly Competitors in the Payment Market

The main competitors can be considered providers of open banking technology, which operate in the European and local markets of the UK.

For example, we have previously reviewed payment system Volt. You can find complete review in this section. In short, this is one of the main competitors of Trustly. Volt provides a wide range of payment options within the technology, such as Pay by Bank, Pay by Link, and even QR codes. This allows covering more needs of merchants and more markets, as each has its own features and preferences of users. However, more does not always mean better, and Volt tries to maintain a high technical level and support for merchants to justify the cost of services and provide the appropriate quality of service.

True Layer is another major player in open banking in the UK, which is particularly focused on iGaming industry and is concentrating services for this dynamic industry. The UK has long ago regulated industry and ability to provide services of payment acceptance is a stable way to process large transaction volumes. In addition, True Layer provides services for accepting payments in the crypto industry, e-commerce, and fintech.

In addition to regular payments, merchants can have access to subscription services and set a regular payment schedule.

London-based company Token is one of the most popular providers of open banking solutions for merchants and fintech. Company provides platform of open banking and payment initiation services in 21 countries of the EU. Token has long been oriented towards providing services to payment providers who could create their own solutions based on this technology. White Label solutions by Token can are also used by banks that do not always have their own capabilities for development and need a quick launch of new services.

In fintech, open banking is currently gaining momentum, and a range of other services and solutions based on it are developing. Alternative payment methods growth is also explained by the desire to move away from payment cards and save on fees that Visa and Mastercard incur. Moreover, the security of card transactions, although improving, remains not the highest, and volume of card fraud is still increasing. Users are concerned about security of their funds on cards and are also actively considering other payment methods, including open banking. To learn more about technology itself, you can read our other article, and to get consultation for your business, simply contact us.