Open Banking (PSD2) for Business Integrations
By CodexierPublished 5 min read
Before PSD2, getting data out of a bank account meant exporting files or relying on the bank's own integrations. The EU's second Payment Services Directive changed that: banks must give licensed third parties access to account data and payment initiation, with the customer's consent. This guide explains what that opens up for a small Swedish business, which providers sit in between, and where it is worth using.
What PSD2 opened up
PSD2 created two regulated roles. Account information service providers may, with consent, read balances and transactions. Payment initiation service providers may, with consent, start a payment from the customer's account. Both need a licence or registration with a national authority, in Sweden Finansinspektionen, or a licence from another EU country passported here. Every access is protected by strong customer authentication, which in Sweden usually means BankID.
Account information for reconciliation
The most practical use for a small business is getting transactions into the systems that need them. Instead of downloading a bank file and importing it into the accounting system, transactions flow in automatically and are matched against invoices.
- Match incoming payments against customer invoices by amount and reference
- Flag unpaid invoices early for reminders
- Build a daily cash view across several banks
- Feed categorised transactions into bookkeeping
- Verify a customer's account ownership during onboarding, where your process requires it
Many accounting systems, including Fortnox and Visma, already offer bank connections. Check what your system provides before building anything. A custom integration makes sense when you need data in a system of your own, such as a customer portal or an internal dashboard. Our guide to what the Fortnox API can do is a good complement.
Payment initiation and pay-by-bank
With payment initiation, the customer chooses their bank at checkout, approves with BankID and the payment goes straight from their account to yours. There is no card network in between, which can mean lower fees and fewer chargebacks. In Sweden, providers such as Trustly have offered this for years; Swish is a separate system run by the Swedish banks and is not a PSD2 service.
| Method | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Card payments | Universal, familiar, works internationally | Card fees, chargebacks |
| Swish | Very familiar in Sweden, instant | Swedish customers only, separate agreement |
| Pay-by-bank via PSD2 | Low fees, no chargebacks, confirmed with BankID | Refunds handled separately, less familiar to some buyers |
| Invoice or instalments via Klarna | Popular for consumers | Higher fees |
For B2B, pay-by-bank can also shorten the time from invoice to payment when the invoice email includes a payment link.
Providers and regulation
You rarely connect to banks directly. A provider that is licensed and already connected to Swedish and Nordic banks offers one API across them. Swedish-founded Tink and Trustly are well known, and several European providers cover the Nordics too. When comparing, look beyond price.
- Which banks and countries are covered, including smaller Swedish banks
- Licence type and supervising authority
- How long consent lasts before the user must reauthenticate
- Data processing terms under GDPR and where data is stored
- Pricing model: per connection, per call or per payment
- Sandbox quality and documentation
The rules are evolving. The EU is updating the framework through PSD3 and a new Payment Services Regulation, so check what your provider is planning. Bank data is sensitive personal data in practice even when it is not a special category under GDPR: handle it with strict access control, and collect only what you need.
Use cases for small businesses
| Use case | Worth it when |
|---|---|
| Automatic reconciliation | Many incoming payments that are matched by hand today |
| Cash-flow dashboard | Several accounts or banks, and decisions depend on daily cash |
| Pay-by-bank in a webshop or portal | Card fees or chargebacks eat into margin |
| Payment links on B2B invoices | Customers pay late because paying is inconvenient |
Our integration and automation service connects open-banking providers with your accounting, CRM or own systems. Prices are on our pricing page.
When open banking is not needed
If your accounting system's built-in bank connection already brings transactions in and suggests matches, you probably have most of the value already. And if you receive a few payments a week, manual matching takes minutes. Open banking pays off with volume or with a system of your own that needs the data. If you are unsure, book a short call and describe how payments reach you today.
Frequently asked questions
Is open banking safe?
The providers are licensed and supervised, and every access requires the account holder's consent and strong authentication, usually BankID. The risk lies more in how you store and use the data afterwards.
Does my customer need to share their bank login with us?
No. PSD2 was designed to end that practice. The customer authenticates with their bank, typically with BankID, and the provider receives limited access; you never see login details.
Is Swish part of open banking?
No. Swish is a separate payment system run by Swedish banks with its own agreements. Pay-by-bank under PSD2 is a different route to a similar result.
How long does account-information consent last?
It is time-limited, and the user must reauthenticate periodically. The exact period follows EU rules and your provider's implementation, so check it when designing your flow.
Reconciling payments by hand?
Describe how payments reach you and where you match them today. On a short call we will tell you whether open banking or your existing bank connection is the right fix.
Book a free 15-minute call