9:22 am, March 26, 2025
Acorn Motor Group is a long-standing dealership network representing Kia, Suzuki, MG, Ford, and Citroën at 16 sites across the North-West.
The group joined Bumper in 2020, using PayLater to split the cost of customers’ repairs into interest-free monthly payments.
For the last two years Acorn has enabled Pay by Bank, allowing customers to pay using account-to-account, open banking payments.
Challenges to overcome
Acorn Motor Group needed a payment method that would massively reduce card processing fees, allowing savings to be put to better use.
The network desired a solution that would streamline operational processes and give much needed time back to advisors.
It was essential payments were secure, presented a low fraud risk, and complied with the latest GDPR standards.
The solution – Pay by Bank
Pay by Bank connects consumers directly with merchants, enabling seamless and secure payments made directly from the customer’s online banking.
With bank-grade security this open banking payment method significantly reduces the risk of fraud for merchants.
By eliminating costly card processing fees from Visa and Mastercard open banking presents a significant cost saving opportunity for retailers.
With customer links enabled, Acorn can send payment links to customers via email and SMS, cutting down on time spent processing payments on the card machine. Pay by Bank integrates directly with their existing Bumper account further streamlining the process.
Dealer network impact
The solution was integrated directly into their existing Bumper account, meaning the solution could be activated instantly. By implementing Bumper’s Pay by Bank option, Acorn Motor Group made significant savings on card processing fees.
Samantha Platt, group aftersales director, said: ‘Bumper’s open banking solution has enabled Acorn Motor Group to make huge savings on card fees.
‘Over the first three months, we’ve saved £15,000 alone and are on track to save £60,000 this year.
‘Open banking was easy to setup with the Bumper team and has had glowing reviews from our customers.’
Key Results
Pay by Bank enabled Acorn Motor Group to make remarkable cost and time savings:
- £2,000 per month per site saved
- 12 minutes per day per site saved
The takeaway
Activating Pay by Bank allowed Acorn Motor Group to save massively on card processing fees by reducing their reliance on PDQ machines.
Requiring authentication within the customer’s banking app means payments are more secure than traditional payment methods.
Integration with Acorn’s existing Bumper account and secure payment links limited the burden of lengthy card payments for service advisors, freeing up much-needed time.
