Mastercard’s ‘Pay by Bank app’ (PbBa) mobile payment service has entered into a strategic partnership with payments, marketing and loyalty commerce platform Yoyo. The agreement Under the partnership, Yoyo and PbBa will deliver a combined payments and customer loyalty offering to retail and bank customers in 2019.

Initially available for in-app purchases with Yoyo retailers, users will be able to use PbBa in physical stores for the first time, with customers automatically collecting retail-specific loyalty and digital receipts, as well as rewards, offers and “surprise and delight” campaigns tailored to their habits and shopping preferences.

Created by Mastercard’s Vocalink business, PbBa enables consumers to pay from their bank account easily and securely using their trusted mobile banking app, without the need to enter any additional details or passwords. Despite the fact that the name of the solution includes the word “app”, Pay by Bank app is not a separate app to download or service to sign-up for. Instead, it works in tandem with the mobile banking app you already use.

At this stage, however, the list of compatible mobile banking apps is a short one. Looking at the Pay by Bank app website, the only such app mentioned is Barclays’ Pingit, though Pay by Bank app also works with Boon (a mobile payment app); Park Group plc (gift cards, gift vouchers and digital rewards); ShieldPay (a service offering “peace of mind when buying and selling with someone you don’t know”); and Bet365 (gambling operator).

Yoyo’s commerce API enables its banking and retail partners to instantly combine payment with personalised loyalty, campaigns, rewards and offers, as well as delivering fully-itemised digital receipts to more than 1.5m users, by identifying purchase and product preference behaviour through the point-of-sale.

Banks and retailers will now have access to anonymised payment and basket data through the Yoyo platform. This will enable them to personalise their marketing efforts, while at the same time ensuring that individual identity and payment data is fully protected through Yoyo’s double tokenization technology and the bank grade security offered through Pay by Bank app.

“We’ve always believed that adding both security and value to the payments process is crucial for the future of bricks and mortar retail, and this partnership is going to significantly enhance the customer experience for PbBa users,” said Yoyo CEO Michael Rolph. “The combined Yoyo and Pay by Bank app proposition will provide both customers and retailers with added speed and security at the point-of-sale, as well as an omnichannel payment and loyalty experience that is unrivalled in the market.”