The Future of Open Banking Payments: Opportunities for SMEs

Payments infrastructure is changing fast. Open banking – the practice of giving authorised third parties secure, consent-based access to bank account data via APIs – is no longer a fintech talking point. For Swiss SMEs, it is becoming a practical route to lower costs, faster settlements, and sharper financial visibility. This article walks through what is actually on the table, what Swiss businesses can act on today, and where the realistic friction points still sit.

What is Open Banking?

Open banking works through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that let banks share customer account data with authorised third-party providers, provided the customer has given explicit consent. The outcome is a more connected payment ecosystem: fintech firms, payment processors, and businesses can exchange data and trigger transactions directly, without the traditional intermediary chain.

In Europe, the regulatory engine behind this shift is the EU's PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2). PSD2 requires banks to open up customer data to qualified third parties, deliberately pushing competition and innovation into a sector that had long resisted both. Switzerland operates outside the EU regulatory perimeter, so PSD2 does not apply directly – but Swiss financial institutions are responding to the same commercial pressures, as we will come to below.

Opportunities for SMEs with Open Banking Payments

1. Lower Transaction Costs

Card networks add a layer of cost to every payment. Open banking removes it. Direct account-to-account transfers bypass those intermediary fees, which matters most for SMEs processing recurring payments or cross-border transactions where card surcharges compound quickly.

Swiss example: a Lausanne-based subscription service switching from card-based billing to open banking payments can reduce per-transaction costs substantially, particularly on the international flows that card schemes price most aggressively.

2. Faster Payment Settlements

Traditional bank transfers can take one to three business days to settle. Open banking payments support real-time transfers, which means cash arrives in the account the moment the customer authorises the payment. For an SME managing tight liquidity, that difference is not cosmetic.

The European SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme already delivers settlement in seconds across participating banks. Businesses with customers in the EU can access this today, improving liquidity and reducing the gap between invoice and usable cash.

3. Improved Customer Experience

Fewer steps at checkout mean fewer abandoned carts. Open banking lets customers authorise a payment directly from their bank account without entering card numbers, expiry dates, or CVV codes. The authentication happens through the customer's existing banking app – familiar, fast, and friction-free.

For Swiss SMEs running online stores or e-commerce operations, integrating providers such as Klarna or Revolut offers a checkout experience that meets the expectations of customers already comfortable with mobile banking.

4. Enhanced Security and Compliance

Open banking payments require strong customer authentication (SCA) at the point of authorisation. That means multi-factor verification built into every transaction. The practical result for SMEs is fewer fraudulent chargebacks and stronger customer trust – security does not require extra work from the business, it is embedded in the payment flow itself.

5. Access to Financial Insights

Here is where open banking shifts from a payments story to a financial management story. By connecting multiple bank accounts through a single API-based interface, SMEs can pull real-time balance and transaction data into their accounting or planning tools. The result is a live picture of cash flow rather than a lagged month-end view – which directly improves the quality of budgeting, forecasting, and day-to-day decisions.

Our team sees this regularly: SMEs that move from monthly bank statement reviews to live data feeds make faster, more confident financing decisions. The data was always there; open banking makes it accessible without manual exports.

The Growing Importance of Open Banking in Switzerland

Switzerland's adoption curve is slower than the EU's – no PSD2 mandate, no hard regulatory deadline. But that does not mean the market is standing still. Swiss financial institutions are actively building out open banking infrastructure, often in partnership with fintech providers, to stay commercially competitive as corporate clients compare their options against EU-regulated alternatives.

The most visible example is SIX Group, Switzerland's central financial infrastructure provider, which is developing an open banking framework to increase interoperability between Swiss banks and third-party services. The direction is clear, even if the timeline is measured.

Challenges for SMEs Adopting Open Banking Payments

The opportunity is real. So are the friction points. SMEs considering adoption should account for three practical obstacles:

• Regulatory variations: SMEs operating across the Swiss-EU border face a patchwork of rules. What a bank can share in Germany under PSD2 differs from what it will share in Switzerland under voluntary frameworks. Cross-border payment flows need careful structuring.
• Customer awareness: Open banking is still unfamiliar to a large share of end customers. Conversion rates on open banking payment options depend partly on whether customers trust the method. Clear communication at checkout is necessary, not optional.
• Integration costs: Lower transaction fees do not arrive for free. Connecting open banking APIs to existing accounting, ERP, or e-commerce systems requires technical work. For smaller SMEs without in-house IT, that means an upfront investment to realise the ongoing savings.

The Future of Open Banking Payments

The next wave of open banking products goes beyond payment initiation. Request-to-Pay (RTP) allows a business to send a structured, real-time payment request directly to a customer's banking app. The customer reviews and authorises in seconds – no invoice chasing, no payment reference mismatches. As more fintech providers build on open banking rails, SMEs will gain access to embedded payment options, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) financing at the point of sale, and tightly integrated cash flow tools that blur the line between payment and financial management.

The businesses that embed these capabilities early will have both a cost structure advantage and a customer experience edge over those that wait.

Conclusion: Seizing Open Banking Opportunities

Lower costs, real-time settlements, embedded security, and live financial data: open banking delivers practical gains that compound for Swiss SMEs willing to make the move. The technology exists, the infrastructure is maturing in Switzerland, and the cost of waiting is increasingly measurable in transaction fees and cash flow delays.

Acting early matters. Customer expectations are shifting, fintech options are multiplying, and the SMEs that integrate open banking solutions now are positioning themselves for a cost and experience advantage that is hard to close later.

Scalemetrics helps Swiss SMEs act on decisions like this before market conditions shift. Our corporate tax and VAT compliance services and outsourced CFO team give finance directors the senior expertise to move first.

Frequently Asked Questions

What financial services does Scalemetrics provide for Swiss SMEs?

Scalemetrics provides Swiss SME owners and CFOs with practical financial expertise: from accounting and tax compliance to financial planning, KPI monitoring, and on-demand CFO services. The goal is to give growing businesses access to senior financial leadership without the cost of a full-time hire.

When does a Swiss SME need a fractional CFO?

A fractional CFO becomes valuable from around CHF 1-2M in annual revenue, or ahead of specific events: bank financing applications, investor rounds, M&A, or rapid growth phases. The cost is a fraction of a full-time CFO salary, with expertise available immediately.

How does Scalemetrics differ from a traditional Swiss fiduciary firm?

Traditional fiduciary firms focus on tax compliance and year-end accounts. Scalemetrics adds strategic financial leadership: rolling forecasts, cash flow modelling, KPI dashboards, and financing advisory, delivered as an ongoing mandate or for a specific project.

What does outsourced accounting for Swiss SMEs include?

Outsourced accounting for Swiss SMEs covers OR-compliant bookkeeping under Arts. 957-963b, monthly bank reconciliation, accounts payable and receivable management, payroll runs with AHV/BVG/UVG deductions, quarterly MWST filings, and monthly financial statement preparation, delivered by an external specialist without the fixed cost of an in-house team.

Which Swiss accounting standards apply to SMEs?

Swiss SMEs must maintain accounts under the Code of Obligations (OR), Arts. 957-963b, using accrual-basis bookkeeping with a balance sheet and income statement. Companies with turnover above CHF 500,000 or 10+ employees require a statutory limited audit (eingeschränkte Revision) unless all shareholders formally opt out.