UK-based FinTech VibePay rolls out new feature Channels

By Megha Bhattacharya

VibePay has today launched ‘Channels’, a new feature that marks an evolution in how consumers and businesses will interact with payments in the future. Channels removes the need for users to scroll through multiple, busy timelines to manage transactions between friends, family and the wider VibePay community. Instead, Channels links multiple bank accounts and provides an ongoing, dedicated timeline of all payments between users and another party.

Luke Massie, CEO of VibePay, said: “Payments today are more than a one-dimensional transaction between business and consumer. They have become a commodity as the technical and legislative barriers are being removed thanks to Open Banking; this has put the onus on payment providers to offer a better post-transactional experience and create more value for users. This opportunity has been highlighted by social commerce where there is a growing need for a multi-faceted user experience which encompasses every layer of a payment, from payment processing to post-transaction, whether it’s between business to consumer, or between friends and fan communities.

“The introduction of Channels takes embedded finance to the next stage, opening the door to a new experience where users can get more out of financial service providers than ever before. In the future, we see Channels resulting in a two-way dialogue between a user and bank where they can ask for real-time balance updates or for additional financial products such as loans. This interaction will reflect the strides taken by our peers in Asia and America. By being the UK’s Open Banking champion and owning the relationship with the end user, we are uniquely positioned to capitalise on this opportunity in revolutionising the payment experience.”

VibePay, which powers account to account payments between consumers, friends and businesses, has launched Channels following feedback from its community that managing and keeping track of payments between people across multiple bank accounts, such as paying monthly rent or splitting bills, is extremely difficult. Channels addresses this challenge by providing ongoing visibility of all transactions in-app in a new dedicated space. This will result in VibePay users having multiple Channels, providing a simple and holistic view of their financial world.

VibePay has plans to enable sellers and entrepreneurs – such as businesses built by content creators, video game streamers and social commerce sellers – to interact with their customers and audiences in new ways. By leveraging the power of Open Banking, the enhancement will ensure sending or receiving money is not always the end of a transaction, and instead enables meaningful ongoing interactions to occur in-app.