1.1 We are Mastercard OB Services UK Limited (“MCOBS UK”, “we”, ”us” and ”our”) providing the Services (as defined in section 2.1 below). We are registered in England and Wales under company number 12507991 and have our registered office at 1 Angel Lane, London EC4R 3AB, UK. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 as an authorised payment institution (firm reference number: 1007177) with permission to carry on the account information services comprising the Services (as below). For details on how to contact the FCA, please visit https://www.fca.org.uk/contact Mastercard OB Services UK Limited is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, with reference number C1509955. Visit www.ico.org.uk for more information. Our VAT registration number is: GB710598928.
1.2 These terms of use (“Terms of Use”) apply for access to our website at https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/personal/ways-to-pay/seamless-payments.html, and any other subdomain of our website used for providing the Services to you (“Website”) and usage of the Services (as defined in section 2.1 below) provided by us. By using our Services, you whether an individual or a legal person through a representative of that legal person (“you” or “your”) accept the Terms of Use and you and MCOBS UK will enter into an agreement being the Terms of Use together with any other terms you accept by using the Services (“Agreement”). Please read these Terms of Use carefully and make sure you understand them before accepting them.
1.3 You may only use the Services if you are 16 years of age or older and a resident in the UK.
1.4 By using our Services, you acknowledge that information about you is provided by you and/or collected from your payment service provider who provides and maintains a payment account (“Payment Account”) for you as a payment service user for which we are able to provide payment initiation services (“Payment Account Provider”) and processed by us in accordance with, and for the purposes set out in our Privacy Notice and you warrant that all information provided by you is accurate. You also acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Notice.
1.5 You may view an up to date copy of these Terms of Use at any time or request us to send the latest version of the Terms of Use to your email address.
2.1 Our services will allow you to use our payment initiation services where we initiate a single payment transaction (each act a “Payment Transaction”) directly from your online Payment Account in a simplified and secure way (“Payment Initiation”). The service uses described in this section are referred to as the “Services” and further explained in the sections below.
2.2 The Services can be provided to you following your referral to us either directly from the natural or legal person who is the intended recipient of the payment (“Payee”) or through one of our service provider partners (a “Service Provider”) that provides their own service(s) to the Payee under an agreement between the Payee and the Service Provider (a “Service Provider Agreement”).
2.3 To use the Services, you must be the holder (or representative of a holder of) the Payment Account held with a Payment Account Provider from which the Payment Initiation is to occur You represent, warrant and undertake to us that you are the lawful holder or the representative of the lawful holder of the Payment Account and have full right and power to access to the Payment Account and to procure that we carry out the requested Services and utilisation of the Services on your behalf.
2.4 The Payment Account must be accessible online in order for the Services to be performed and each Payment Account Provider must provide a dedicated interface to us in compliance with its obligations under applicable laws which is operational at the time of the requested utilisation. We accept no responsibility for any non-availability of any such interface due to the Payment Account Provider’s acts or omissions. The Services can access / communicate with a wide array of Payment Account Providers but we do not guarantee that this is possible in relation to all Payment Account Providers.
3.1 Eligibility and availability: You can only use the Services if: 1) you fulfil the age and residence requirements in section 1.3; 2) you have a Payment Account and Payment Account Provider located in the UK; 3) you provide us with accurate, complete and up to date information on your identity and any other information we may ask from you; 4) you agree to this Agreement and using our Services in accordance herewith, and 5) you agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
3.2 Before requesting a Payment Initiation, you indicate to the Payee or their Service Provider that you wish to initiate an online payment using our Services. After having made that indication to the Payee or Service Provider, you will be redirected to MCOBS UK.
3.3 Upon redirection to MCOBS UK, you will need to select the Payment Account Provider from which you wish to initiate the online payment and accept our then current Terms of Use. You will also need to confirm the details of the Payment Initiation, including: 1) the amount; 2) the details of the payment account to which you wish to send the payment; and 3) the Payee, (together items 1, 2 and 3 being the “Instruction”). The Payee, or their Service Provider may, depending on the functionality chosen, provide us with information regarding the Payee (including details of the payment account of the Payee to which you wish to send the payment) and the amount. It is your responsibility to ensure the accuracy and completeness of your Instruction. By submitting your Instruction to us, you give your explicit consent to us initiating the payment from your Payment Account operated by the relevant Payment Account Provider and to us collecting, storing, and sharing your Payment Account holder name(s), account number and sort code with the Payee, if requested, in order to enable the Payee to make a refund to you.
3.4 We will forward your Instruction to perform the Payment Initiation to your Payment Account Provider and we will redirect you to your Payment Account Provider so you can undergo authentication with, and using the login credentials or other security credentials required by, your Payment Account Provider (“Payment Account Login Credentials”) and select your Payment Account from which you wish to make the payment. Using the Services to initiate payment means that you agree that we forward your Instruction to your Payment Account Provider.
3.5 We will provide you with confirmation, a reference number and the amount of the Payment Transaction, when your Instruction has been accepted and authorised by your Payment Account Provider. If your Payment Account Provider does not authorise the Payment Transaction related to the Payment Initiation, we will notify you about this as soon as possible.
3.6 You are not able to revoke a Payment Initiation with us after having given consent to initiate the Payment Transaction.
3.7 Your Instruction to initiate the payment shall be considered to be received by us at the time at which you have given your Instruction. The execution of the actual Payment Transaction is performed by your Payment Account Provider and may take place at a later date, depending on your agreement with your Payment Account Provider.
3.8 It is our responsibility to forward your Instructions to your Payment Account Provider. Your Payment Account Provider is responsible for executing, or declining to execute, the actual Payment Transaction. You acknowledge and agree that the time for the Payment Transaction to be executed by your Payment Account Provider is the responsibility of that Payment Account Provider. It is your responsibility that the information you provide to perform the Payment Initiation is accurate and complete and that you have sufficient funds in the selected Payment Account.
3.9 We accept no responsibility if your Payment Account Provider declines or fails to execute any Payment Transaction initiated by us on your behalf in accordance with Instructions given to them by us.
3.10 As part of your acceptance of these Terms of Use you agree to us disclosing details of any Payment Initiation to the relevant Payee (or their payment service provider) or to the Service Provider.
4.1 When you use the Services following your referral to us from a Payee or Service Provider, the Payee or Service Provider may give us information for us to complete your Instruction above. You acknowledge that we have no ability or responsibility to check the accuracy of any information provided by the Payee or their Service Provider and that it will be your responsibility to verify the accuracy and completeness of any information contained in the Instruction.
4.2 We carry out no verification of, and do not take any responsibility for, the adequacy, quality or legality of any services agreed to be provided to you by a Payee or any determination by any Service Provider (acting on behalf of a Payee) as to the appropriate Payee in respect of any Instruction given in accordance with section 3.3 above.
4.3 The Payee and their Service Provider are independent of us and they do not act as our agent or have any authority to bind us in connection with these Terms of Use or any aspect of the Services.
5.1 You will do your utmost to abide by, and you are solely responsible for complying with, all applicable laws when using the Services. When you are processing information on behalf of third party data subjects, you are fully responsible for obtaining any necessary consent in full compliance with the applicable legal requirements and rules or ensuring other legal basis for the use of the Services.
5.2 The Services are provided “as-is”, and we make no warranty as to your use of the Services. You assume any and all risk of using the Services. We provide no guarantee that the Services meet your specific requirements or for data quality, uptime or other metrics except as specifically described in these Terms of Use. We have done our utmost to ensure that the Services comply with all applicable laws.
6.1 We do not charge you for the use of the Services. Fees may, however, be imposed by the Payee, your internet or mobile access provider or your Payment Account Provider, where you make use of Payment Initiation. Such fees are solely a matter between you and the third party. Where we have arrangements in place with a third party in connection with the provision of the Services that third party may pay us fees for providing the Services.
7.1 We unilaterally reserve the right to take appropriate measures, keep records of or suspend a transaction in the event of suspected illicit or criminal activity or security threats in respect of any Payment Account or use of the Services. This may include suspicion of abuse, fraud or money laundering. We undertake to investigate any usage irregularities as soon as possible. We shall not be liable to you or any third party for blocking or suspending the Payment Initiation. We may refuse, suspend or terminate your use of the Services pending the situation being resolved.
7.2 You agree to abide by the security requirements regarding your Payment Account Login Credentials set out by your Payment Account Provider and/or provider of the security credentials. If you suspect any abuse of your Payment Account Login Credentials, you must immediately contact your Payment Account Provider.
7.3 Any Payment Transaction executed via the Services with the use of your Payment Account Login Credentials shall be deemed carried out by the authorised owner of the Payment Account. You are responsible for protecting your Payment Account Login Credentials from abuse and failing to do so might result in you becoming liable for unauthorised Payment Transactions.
7.4 All communications made by you when using the Services are encrypted and your Payment Account Login Credentials are only forwarded to the selected Payment Account Provider. Access to and use of the Services are logged. We do not store the Payment Account Login Credentials you provide to your Payment Account Provider.
7.5 If you suspect any form of abuse of your use of the Services, please contact our support immediately at openbankingUK_Support@mastercard.com.
8.1 Payment Initiation is subject to applicable regulation on anti-money laundering, counter financing of terrorism, financial sanctions compliance and MCOBS UK’s policies on prevention of financial crime (e.g., customer due diligence and transaction monitoring). The policies and practices applied are constantly reviewed and may vary from time to time depending on conditions pertaining to transaction patterns, geographical position etc. For the purposes of complying with applicable laws and regulations, you acknowledge that records may be kept, and additional information may be requested at any time in order to establish matters such as identity, purpose of the Payment Transaction and origin of funds. By accepting these Terms of Use, you undertake to provide MCOBS UK without undue delay with any and all information as may be deemed necessary for this purpose and recognise that non-compliance with MCOBS UK’s requests may result in refusal to complete a Payment Initiation or other consequences.
9.1 Mastercard OB Services UK Limited is the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Services, and the Website and its content, and the Mastercard name and mark. All those aforementioned works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
9.2 You are not granted any right to use, and may not use, any of our intellectual property rights other than as set out in these Terms of Use.
9.3 No part of the Website may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, re-posted, modified, transmitted or distributed or otherwise used in any way without our prior written consent.
9.4 You are granted a non-exclusive right of use to the Services in accordance with these Terms of Use.
10.1 The Services shall be provided in a professional manner, with reasonable skill and care, promptness and diligence and in accordance with all applicable law. Where the Services are dependent on third parties, including Payee or Service Providers and Payment Account Providers, no guarantees can be made as to time of performance of the Services.
10.2 We strive to avoid errors, defects and disruptions of the service on the Website at any time, including by monitoring IT performance and data quality. These may still occur and we would like to receive information on such matters so we can seek to remedy them as soon as reasonably possible.
10.3 Routine and emergency maintenance and updates on the Services and the Website are performed on an ongoing basis. During routine and emergency maintenance and updating, certain or all features may become temporarily unavailable. As part of an update, one or more features may be removed from the Services.
10.4 To the extent reasonably possible, information of expected major disruptions of the Services will be provided to you in advance, either on the Website or, if available to us, by your email address. The same applies to the possible removal of functions. We are not obliged to provide such information.
10.5 Content on the Website related to elements of the Services already provided is made available for information purposes only. We make no representations about the reliability, availability, timeliness or accuracy of such content. You are solely responsible for securing and backing up the information we make available to you relating to the Services that you access through the Website in accordance with these Terms of Use.
10.6 We shall endeavour to ensure the Website and the Services are available on a 24/7 basis, but we make no representation, and give no warranty or undertaking, that the operation or availability of the Website will be uninterrupted or error-free. In particular, we shall not be liable or responsible for any unavailability or issue with the Website which is caused by: 1) your breach of these Terms of Use; or 2) use of the Website contrary to our instructions; or 3) modification or alteration of the Website by any party other than us.
10.7 We shall endeavour to ensure the Website and the Services are available on a 24/7 basis, but we make no representation, and give no warranty or undertaking, that the operation or availability of the Website will be uninterrupted or error-free. In particular, we shall not be liable or responsible for any unavailability or issue with the Website which is caused by: 1) your breach of these Terms of Use; or 2) use of the Website contrary to our instructions; or 3) modification or alteration of the Website by any party other than us.
10.8 We do not guarantee that the Website will be totally secure or free from bugs or viruses.
10.9 You must not misuse the Website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful.
10.10 You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website, any servers on which they are stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Website. You must not attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Website will cease immediately.
11.1 Please note that when you have initiated a payment through the Services, you cannot revoke such Instruction, as detailed in section 3.6 above.
11.2 If you have questions or requests regarding a Payee or Service Provider’s processing of your data or if you wish to make use of your legal rights regarding such processing, you should contact the Payee.
12.1 Nothing in these Terms of Use excludes or limits our liability for:
12.1.1 death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
12.1.2 fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; and
12.1.3 any matter in respect of which it would be unlawful for us to exclude or restrict our liability.
12.2 If we fail to comply with these Terms of Use, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a reasonably foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms of Use or our negligence, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable. Loss or damage is reasonably foreseeable if it was an obvious consequence of our breach or if it was contemplated by you and us at the time that you used the Services.
12.3 If you think that we have incorrectly initiated a Payment Transaction from your Payment Account (an “Initiated Payment”) - for example, on the basis that you have not authorised the Initiated Payment or that the Initiated Payment has been sent at the wrong time or to the incorrect Payee, then you should contact us as soon as possible, and your Payment Account Provider as soon as possible (and in any event no later than 13 months after the relevant Initiated Payment was made).
12.4 We will work with your Payment Account Provider to assist you in relation to any Initiated Payment which you consider to be incorrect or unauthorised but ultimately it is your Payment Account Provider who is liable to refund you or provide some other form of redress. In any event, you acknowledge that we will have no liability:
12.4.1 where you have acted fraudulently;
12.4.2 where we have acted at all times faithfully on your instructions;
12.4.3 for losses resulting from abnormal and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control;
12.4.4 where you have failed to notify us of the relevant Initiated Payment within 13 months of the date on which it was made; or
12.4.5 where you have failed, either intentionally or with gross negligence, to comply with these Terms of Use.
12.5 We accept no responsibility for any inaccuracy, omission or deficiency in any account information supplied to us by a Payment Account Provider for onward transmission under the Services.
12.6 We shall never be liable for non-compliance with these Terms of Use or for damages or losses in case of force majeure or caused by circumstances beyond our control, for example, virus outbreaks or hacker attacks, crashes or errors in communication systems, power failure, government interventions or restrictions, court injunctions, strikes or lockout, subcontractors' force majeure and other unforeseen events that we could not reasonably predict or avoid.
12.7 We are not liable to users of the Services and/or the Website in the event of errors, defects, malfunctions or removal of functionality besides what follows on MCOBS UK’s liability under applicable law.
12.8 You shall indemnify and keep us indemnified against any losses, damages, reasonable costs and expenses or fines we may suffer or incur arising under or in connection with you initiating unlawful Payment Transactions on your Payment Account pursuant to the payment initiation services.
12.9 Nothing in these Terms of Use affects your statutory rights. Advice about your statutory rights is available from your local Citizens' Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office. To the extent permitted by applicable laws, our total aggregate liability to you for all and any damages, losses or causes of action arising out of or in connection with the Agreement, shall not exceed £250.
13.1 You accept that communication between you and us may be online or through email. The Agreement and the Terms of Use have been entered into in English and we will communicate with you in English.
14.1 We may amend these Terms of Use from time to time (if, for example, there is a change in the law that means we need to change these Terms of Use). If we update these Terms of Use, we will notify you of the changes on the Website and, from 60 days onwards after our notification, the changes will apply to the provision of the Services and access to the Website. No action is needed by you to accept the changes to the Terms of Use. If you do not agree with the proposed changes to the Terms of Use, you must tell us that you reject the changes at openbankingUK_Support@mastercard.com before the changes take effect, i.e. within 60 days of our notification of the changes, in which case the Agreement shall immediately terminate at the time when such changes would otherwise have taken effect and the Services shall cease to be available to you. If you do not contact us to request termination, you will be deemed to have accepted the changes to the Terms of Use and the Agreement.
14.2 Every time you use the Services or access the Website, please check section 20 below for the then current Terms to ensure you understand the Terms of Use that apply at that time.
15.1 We will keep any Payment Transaction information or other account information to which we gain access in the provision of the Services confidential and will take technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of such information which are appropriate to the level of risk. In assessing the appropriate level of security, we will take into consideration the state of the art, the costs of implementation and the nature, scope, context and purposes of its holding, processing and transmission of such information, the risks to you that are presented by such holding, processing and transmission, in particular from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to such information so transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. Notwithstanding the foregoing and subject to our Privacy Notice, we may use, and make such disclosure of, such information as necessary to deliver, modify, adjust, test or improve the Services and may disclose such information: 1) to employees, consultants, and subcontractors that have a need to know such information (including to facilitate the permitted purposes described above), provided that we will advise each of such employees, consultants and subcontractors of their obligations to keep such information confidential; 2) as required by any competent authority; and 3) to the extent that we are legally compelled to disclose such information.
16.1 If you breach any term of these Terms of Use, we may at any time and without notice do any or all of the following (without limitation):
16.1.1 suspend or terminate your use of the Services (if you are in material or repeated breach of these Terms of Use);
16.1.2 issue legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs resulting from the breach (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs);
16.1.3 take further legal action against you; and/or
16.1.4 disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary to disclose.
For the purpose of this section 16.1, ‘material breach’ shall include but not be limited to abuse, or attempt to, abuse the Services, actions or omissions by you which could lead to damages to MCOBS UK or any third party as well as any other illegal behaviour. We will, where circumstances allow for this, notify you of suspension of the Agreement.
16.2 If we withdraw your right to use the Services and to access the Website all rights granted to you under these Terms of Use and the Agreement shall cease.
16.3 Your right to use the Services so far as they relate to any specific Service Provider shall be automatically terminated if any relationship which we operate with such Service Provider relating to the provision of the Services to you is terminated.
17.1 We have the right to transfer our rights and obligations under the Agreement.
17.2 You have the right, upon request, to receive a copy of these Terms of Use. Contact us at openbankingUK_Support@mastercard.com with your request.
17.3 These Terms of Use, together with any other terms you accept by using the Services, constitute the entire agreement between us and you in relation to its subject matter. They replace and extinguish all prior agreements, collateral warranties, collateral contracts, statements, representations and undertakings made by or on behalf of either us or you, whether oral or written, in relation to that subject matter.
17.4 You and we acknowledge that in entering into the Agreement, no reliance has been placed upon any collateral warranties, collateral contracts, statements, representations or undertakings, whether oral or written, which were made by or on behalf of the other party in relation to the subject matter of the Agreement and which are not set out in the Agreement. Each of us waives all rights and remedies which might otherwise be available to us in relation to any such collateral warranties, collateral contracts, statements, representations or undertakings.
17.5 If we fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms of Use, or if we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we do waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will continue to waive such default indefinitely or that we will automatically waive any later similar or other default by you.
17.6 If any provision of these Terms of Use is found invalid or unenforceable by any court or relevant authority, such shall not affect the other provisions of these Terms of Use which shall remain in full force and effect.
Making a complaint
18.1 We care about our customers and we are keen to answer any questions or to know if you are dissatisfied with the service. If you wish to complain, please contact us at openbankingUK_Complaints@mastercard.com, stating “Complaint” as the subject field of your email, or by writing to us with “Complaint” as the subject, at:
Attention: Complaints Officer
Mastercard OB Services UK Limited
1 Angel Lane
EC4R 3AB
London, UK
We will try to resolve the matter and avoid it happening again.
18.2 If your complaint relates to the Services, we will send you a final response within 15 business days of your complaint. In exceptional circumstances, we will send you a holding reply specifying the deadline by which you will receive our response, being not later than 35 business days from the date of your initial complaint. If you do not receive our final response or you are unhappy with our final response, you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service ("FOS"). You can contact the FOS at: The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR, UK or by email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by calling them on: 0800 023 4567.
18.3 If you do refer your complaint to the FOS, this will not affect your right to take legal action.
Exercising your privacy rights
18.4 To exercise your privacy rights, please see our Privacy Notice.
Other contact or queries
18.5 You can contact us at openbankingUK_Support@mastercard.com or at our postal address in section 18.1 above. We can email you at any email address you have given us.
19.1 Unless otherwise required by mandatory laws in your country of residence, the Agreement and these Terms of Use (and any non-contractual disputes/claims arising out of or in connection with either of them) are subject to the laws of England and Wales, without regard to choice or conflicts of law principles.
19.2 Further, you and we agree to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales to resolve any dispute, claim, or controversy that arises in connection with the Agreement and these Terms of Use (and any non-contractual disputes/claims arising out of or in connection with either of them), except where under applicable mandatory laws, you can choose to bring legal proceedings in your country of residence, or we are required to only bring legal proceedings in your country of residence.
20.1 These Terms of Use took effect in August 2024 and are valid until new terms are published.