New economic analysis from open banking platform Tink and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has found that UK small and medium-sized enterprises lost an estimated £6.15billion in direct sales last year due to consumer distrust of manual bank transfers.
The report highlights a widespread ‘fear of fraud’ that is also driving a potential £31.4billion in indirect losses from reduced customer loyalty and repeat business.
The findings, based on surveys of 2,000 consumers and 500 SME leaders, reveal a significant disconnect between business practices and customer expectations. While 87 per cent of SMEs that accept manual bank transfers still rely on them as a regular payment method, 41 per cent of consumers say they would abandon a purchase if asked to pay this way.
This distrust is widespread, with 57 per cent of shoppers stating they do not trust businesses that request manual transfers, and 67 per cent worrying specifically about being scammed into paying a fraudster.
A 2025 report from UK Finance recorded that £450million was lost to authorised push payment (APP) fraud in 2024, a crime where victims are tricked into sending money directly to a criminal’s account. This backdrop of rising fraud is making consumers increasingly cautious at the checkout, especially when payment methods lack built-in security.
Consumers voting with their wallets
The research shows that trust is a major factor in a consumer’s decision to complete a purchase. The fear of being scammed is not just a statistic; it translates into real-world abandoned sales and damaged business reputations.
One consumer, Peter Richards, shared that a previous scamming incident has made him extremely wary of manual transfers. When a letting agent recently asked for a payment to an account where the name did not match the business, he felt compelled to visit their physical office to verify the request. “If they didn’t have a physical store presence, I wouldn’t have paid,” he stated.
This sentiment is shared by others who feel vulnerable. Anne Vivian-Smith, another consumer, explained her decision to cancel hiring a gardener who requested payment via a manual bank transfer sent over text message. “I had no way to double-check if the account was legitimate, and I didn’t want to put myself in a vulnerable position,” she said. “In the end, I decided not to go ahead with his services. It wasn’t worth the stress or the risk.”
These experiences back the report’s finding that the payment options offered by a business heavily influence purchasing decisions for 81 per cent of consumers. Furthermore, two-thirds of shoppers do not trust businesses that fail to use a recognised third-party payment provider, indicating that security and choice are now baseline expectations.
The case for secure payments
With open banking adoption in the UK reaching 15 million users, up from 10 million a year ago, the report points towards modern payment methods like Pay by Bank as a secure alternative that can help SMEs restore trust and protect revenue.
Ian Morrin, head of payments at Tink, commented: “Manual bank transfers are often no longer fit for purpose and are holding the UK economy back. These methods can create friction, fuel fraud fears, and ultimately erode customer trust. In today’s landscape, where trust and choice are non-negotiable at checkout, businesses can’t afford to rely on outdated payment methods that cost them both sales and loyalty.”
He also added: “Secure, recognised payment methods, whether that’s Pay by Bank, digital wallets or card payments, give customers the confidence to complete purchases while helping businesses improve conversion, reduce fraud risk, and meet rising expectations around payment experience.”
Tink, as part of Visa A2A, is working to bring greater protections to Pay by Bank payments, aiming to provide a level of security typically associated with card transactions.