Avarda picks Aiia to improve digital payment experience

Nordic-based payment service provider Avarda has chosen European open banking leader Aiia, a Mastercard company, to enable open banking payments for a wide range of retailers and merchants.

Powered by Mastercard’s global open banking platform, Avarda provides online shoppers with a more hassle-free checkout experience thanks to its white-label payment solutions, which serve merchants in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

Commenting on the collaboration, Mikael Johansson, CEO of Avarda, said: “The payment industry is developing at a high pace and we want to stay on top of these developments by delivering the most convenient payment solutions the market has to offer for merchants and retailers.

“We’ve been looking into open banking opportunities for a while and are thrilled to have launched this with Aiia and Mastercard as they hold a strong position and bank connectivity in the Nordics.”

Both Avarda and Aiia see a tremendous opportunity for open banking to improve the customer experience and further increase conversion rates. The ‘Pay-by-bank’ solution has already kicked off in the Finnish e-commerce landscape with great results and is set to be further expanded across the Nordic region during 2022.

Katharina Luschnik, Vice President, Product Sales of Aiia, a Mastercard company, said: “We’re happy to see Avarda taking on open banking payments to help bring a fast, simple, and secure experience to its wide range of Nordic merchants.

“Open banking payments is a win for merchants and most importantly their customers as it improves the overall online shopping experience.”

With Aiia’s platform, Avarda’s customers can authenticate and authorise payments through Avarda with just a few clicks. Furthermore, Aiia will empower Avarda’s white-labelled ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ solution based on account-to-account payments. With Aiia’s open banking capabilities in place, the consumer will not be redirected to any external banking login, which will ensure higher conversion rates and a frictionless payment experience for the customer.