Sage and GoCardless expand partnership to add Pay by Bank for small businesses

Instant open banking payments now available in Sage Business Cloud Accounting, providing a card-free alternative to eliminate costly fees and manual admin 

LONDON 14 July, 2026 -- Bank payment company GoCardless has expanded its long-standing strategic partnership with Sage, the global leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, to incorporate its open banking payment feature, Pay by Bank, directly within Sage Business Cloud Accounting.

The launch builds on the successful, multi-year relationship between the two companies, adding instant one-off account-to-account payments alongside GoCardless' existing Direct Debit capabilities. The expansion means that Sage users across the UK and Ireland can now offer their customers a simple, card-free way to instantly pay their bills online.

By embedding a 'Pay by Bank' option directly within Sage invoices, small businesses have a faster, simpler way to collect one-off charges that sit outside regular Direct Debit schedules - such as upfront setup fees, extra services, or account top-ups. Because payments are made directly from one account to another, without the risk of expired or lost card details, small businesses can protect their cash flow by significantly reducing failed payments on the first try, while avoiding traditional card networks to cut single transaction costs by an average of 54%.

The integration also eliminates the heavy administrative burden of manual bookkeeping. Once a customer pays their invoice, the payment status automatically syncs back to the Sage dashboard to reconcile the open balance, saving finance teams from hours of manual data entry or matching transactions against paper bank statements.

Tom Metcalfe, Director, Global Partnerships at GoCardless, said: “Sage is a long-standing partner and their launch of Pay by Bank underscores our shared commitment to helping businesses thrive. For small businesses managing tight margins, high credit card fees and delayed payments are a massive burden on resources. This expanded partnership solves that pain point directly by combining automated recurring collections and instant open banking payments, allowing teams to protect their cash flow and keep card costs down."

Paul Fairless, Fintech Partner Strategy and Business Development Director at Sage, said: “For small businesses, every hour spent on admin is time taken away from serving customers and growing the business. By bringing Pay by Bank natively into Sage Business Cloud Accounting, we're closing the loop between invoice creation and real-time bookkeeping. It means payments can be reconciled automatically, reducing manual work and giving businesses a clearer view of their cash flow.”

Notes to Editors

For further information contact:

press@gocardless.com 

About GoCardless

GoCardless is a global bank payment company. Over 100,000 businesses, from start-ups to household names, use GoCardless to collect and send payments through direct debit, real-time payments and open banking. GoCardless processes US$130bn+ of payments annually, across 30+ countries; helping customers collect and send both recurring and one-off payments, without the chasing, stress or expensive fees. We use AI-powered solutions to improve payment success and reduce fraud. And, with open banking connectivity to over 2,500 banks, we help our customers make faster, more informed decisions.

We are headquartered in the UK, with additional offices in Australia, France, Ireland, Latvia and the United States. For more information, please visit www.gocardless.com and follow us on LinkedIn @GoCardless. 

About Sage 

Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitalising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our AI-powered platform connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.