Verizon and Trustly have partnered to extend pay-by-bank options to Verizon’s brick-and-mortar retail stores, allowing customers to use their bank accounts directly for purchasing devices, upgrades and accessories. A primary goal for Verizon is to lower payment acceptance costs by encouraging customers to switch from card payments to ACH/pay by bank, and the new in-store process simplifies the ability for customers to enroll in autopay and secure associated discounts within a single transaction. Verizon’s strategy of offering discounts for pay by bank is highlighted as a successful method for influencing customer payment choices and is particularly appealing to younger consumers. Kerrie Larpenter, director of enterprise customer success at Trustly, and Attie Muse, senior director of payment strategy and operations at Verizon said, “Adding pay by bank as an option in a retail setting adds the payment option in a trusted, secure environment.” “By using Trustly to remove the friction of traditional ACH, like the manual entry of banking credentials, we made direct bank payments a more appealing option for customers,” Attie Muse, senior director of payment strategy and operations at Verizon. Muse and Larpenter said that pay by bank’s appeal — and the attendant discounts and incentives — are especially attractive to Generation Z and millennial consumers as it ties into responsible budgeting.