Open Payments Coalition of tech, finance leaders launches PayID

By Sunniva Kolostyak

A multinational alliance of over 40 industry leaders across technology, finance and non-profit organisations have joined forces to launch PayID, an open-source, universal ID for payments – reaching over 100 million consumers.

The Open Payments Coalition, which aims to simplify the process of sending and receiving money globally across any payment network and currency, includes companies such as GoPay, Ripple, Blockchain.com, Fluttewave and Mercy Corps.

Together, the coalition reaches more than 100 million consumers worldwide and the companies will use PayID to break down the proprietary silos and standards that exist in payments, and accelerate the adoption of digital payments.

By marrying traditional finance and the new world of FinTech under one standard, PayID allows individuals to send and receive money across any payment network. Using an easy-to-read address instead of the unintuitive bank accounts, routing or credit card numbers, customers will avoid frustration and get access to a solution which is as easy to use as sending an email.

The Open Payments Coalition noted that this is the first step in creating a ‘truly open payments network’.

Moreover, because it is built for everyone by being open-source and free, everyone from large financial institutions and global non-profits, to ride-hailing apps and neobanks, will be able to integrate it with the security and privacy required. It provides an end-to-end Travel Rule compliance solution for satisfying both FinCEN requirements and FATF recommendations.

The founding members of the Open Payments Coalition are BitBNS, BitGo, BitPay, Bitrue, Bitso, Bitstamp, Blockchain.com, Brave, BRD, BTC Markets, CARE, CipherTrace, Coil, CoinField, Coinme, Coinone, Coins.ph, Crypto.com, DeeMoney, Dharma, Dwolla, FlashFX, Flutterwave, Forte, GateHub, GiveDirectly, The Giving Block, globaliD, GoPay, Huobi, Independent Reserve, Liquid, Mercury FX, Mercy Corps, ModusBox, PolySign, Standard Chartered Ventures, Sygnum, Tangem, TRISA, Unstoppable Domains, Uphold, Wyre and XUMM.

Ethan Beard, SVP of Xpring, Ripple, commented: “The next payments network should be open, like the web, where any company can participate just by building your service on the network. PayID is the beginning of building an open payments network that is designed for people and simplifies the experience of sending or receiving money. Building the open payments network that simplifies payments process will accelerate the growth and adoption of digital payments for everyone around the globe.”

Myriam Khoury, VP of Innovation, at Mercy Corps said: “Mercy Corps believes in the power of innovation and partnerships to solve the world’s toughest humanitarian challenges. We know when people can access critical financial services, they are better able to absorb financial shocks, manage risks and start and expand businesses.”

Dave Jevans, CEO of CipherTrace, added: “Compliance solutions provide a critical component of mitigating compliance risk, and we look forward to using PayID to identify and reduce exposure to illicit finance. Our aim has always been to make the digital payments space safe for everyone, and we are excited to lend our expertise and tools towards helping PayID bring the dream of a trusted, open payments network to life.”

About PayID:

• A universal payment ID consumers can use to simplify the process of sending and receiving money globally, across any payment network and currency. It enables payments to work like email, where a user has an email address (or identifier) that works across any service (like Gmail, Hotmail, etc.).
  Formed by the Open Payments Coalition, PayID brings together companies across all industries with an open solution for payments including GoPay, Ripple, BitPay, Mercy Corps and many others.
• Over 40 global companies reaching more than 100 million consumers worldwide have joined the Open Payments Coalition to break down the proprietary silos and standards that exist in payments and accelerate the adoption of digital payments.
• PayID is open-sourced and free for any organisation to integrate.