As HMRC open banking payments hit £13bn, Ecospend appoints Lord Chris Holmes as adviser

Open banking provider Ecospend has appointed former Paralympic champion swimmer and tech advocate Lord Chris Holmes MBE as an adviser.

The news comes as Ecospend has now helped the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) process over £13bn worth of open banking payments.

Ecospend, which was acquired by Swedish fintech Trustly in January, said Lord Holmes will provide the business with “a wealth of experience to support Ecospend’s growth ambitions” including specialist advice on exporting open banking payments to merchants around the world.

“Open Banking payments in the UK have grown massively in the last five years, as highlighted by the various use cases including HMRC's Pay-by-Bank solution, however as part of our growth ambitions we are looking to grow our presence outside of the UK as well,” said James Hickman, chief commercial officer of Ecospend.

“We believe Lord Holmes will be a key part in that process.”

Since 2021 Ecospend has been the exclusive provider of open banking to HMRC, including facilitating account-to-account payments for tax returns.

As of February 2023, Ecospend said over three million customers had used its ‘Pay-by-Bank’ option to make £13bn worth of tax payments, including £2.3bn in January alone ahead of the self-assessment deadline.

“We have a great opportunity to be growing this UK technology in other international markets,” said Holmes on his appointment.

“This technology will only grow in prominence as more businesses become aware of the many benefits it can bring.”