Pulse of Payments – Pete Ohser, President, North America at Trustly | Episode 150

This week marks the last episode for our Pulse series featuring Open Banking platform Trustly. And to close it out with a bang, I have Trustly President of North America Pete Ohser. Pete is a true industry veteran with more than 20 years in the payments space and a byline that includes an integral part in developing the first risk system for online money transfer platforms.

In his own words, Trustly is “a payments company that does data really, really well.” They have been in the marketplace since 2008, originating in Europe where the Open Banking platforms are much more widely used. But according to Pete, the U.S. is primed for adoption and the need is growing at a rapid pace. What are some of the main motivators for early adopters? A lot of it has to do with speed and low-cost payment options. And when it comes to the benefits, they are strong on both sides of the equation. From a merchant perspective, they have less risk, an amazing user experience and all at a lower cost. From a customer perspective, Pete focuses on the value that comes with enabling them to build a relationship with their bank data that goes beyond what certain banks have the capacity to offer. 

 According to him, “the world is ready for alternatives to cards” and Trustly has a strong commitment to blazing that trail in the Open Banking space. Tune in and hear him talk about the journey of open banking from the EU perspective, the rise of adoption in the U.S. and what the future looks like for Open Banking as it relates to the simplification of cross-border payments, geographic expansion, greater bank regulation and the possibility of one single API to hit the entire world.