The government has said it is exploring how its digital payments system could incorporate Open Banking.

GOV.UK Pay is free online card payment service for government and public sector organisations.

Amanda Dahl, deputy director of digital service platforms at the Government Digital Service, said that GOV.UK Pay – which already offers Apple Pay and Google Pay to central government digital services – will also soon release the same mobile wallet payment types to local authorities, which can be used by people who are paying "on the go" services like Clean Air Zone charges.

“Later this year we’ll also be investigating how GOV.UK Pay might offer Open Banking, which means that people will have the option to pay for services conveniently using their own banking app,” wrote Dahl in a blogpost.

Over the past year, the payments service has onboarded 163 services, including the Forestry Commission and NHS Business Authority, enabling them to take payments through online digital services.

The government revealed that in total, it saw 23 million payments worth £1.3 billion processed over the 12-month period.

The payments service also launched a new Recurring Card Payments function – initially with Kent County Council and with more public services to follow – which enables local residents to save their payment details for use in ongoing regular payments.

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