Enrich your payment portfolio - Account-to-Account Payments

Faster and secure payments based on Open banking.

One of the European Union’s objectives with the second directive on payment services is to open up the financial market to new players with innovative and competitive services. One of these services is Account-to-Account Payments (A2A), where money is directly transferred between banks without intermediaries. While account-based payments have been around for a while, such as scheduling regular bill payments (e.g., direct debit) or using domestic payment schemes like iDEAL in the Netherlands, PSD2 and instant payments have given A2A the opportunity to challenge card payments as a credible alternative for everyday transactions. It has the potential to become the mainstream payment method as it offers major advantages over traditional payment methods. Now, Payment Service Providers (PSPs) can add this payment method easily to their portfolio, enrich their offerings, and meet the growing demand for Open Banking-driven Account-to-Account (A2A) payments.

Benefits for merchants, consumers and PSPs.

Merchants are increasingly adopting open banking-enabled A2A payments due to their compelling benefits. These benefits include cost savings (no scheme fees), improved cash flow through reduced intermediaries, wider accessibility reaching anyone with a bank account, and reduced fraud risks. On the other hand, consumers stand to benefit from enhanced online payment security, reduced fraud risks, and the convenience of the payment method. Account-to- Account Payments necessitate consumers to authenticate their payments through their banking applications. Beyond just providing a sense of security, this familiarity with the banking environment offers them a comforting ‘at-home’ feeling, significantly influencing adoption rates positively. Furthermore, A2A payments eliminate the constraints of traditional card payment limits, such as spending limits, creating an actual win-win scenario for all.

But what’s in it for Payment Service Providers (PSPs)? PSPs play a crucial role in facilitating payment transactions, enabling businesses to accept various payment methods while reaching new markets and customers globally. The success and growth of PSPs depend on their ability to offer a comprehensive range of payment methods. If a payment method is unavailable through a PSP, merchants may face significant challenges in providing it to their customers. This underscores the PSP’s unique position within the payment ecosystem, making them a critical component in introducing new payment methods. By harnessing the power of Open Banking, PSPs can unlock many benefits. These include enhancing the customer experience, meeting market demand, and increasing payment transactions. PSPs can also explore new segments in emerging markets, such as government services, high-value payments, or corporate payments (B2B payments). From a strategic perspective, PSPs must adapt their offerings to the evolving payments landscape, as growing competition will significantly impact their ability to thrive in this dynamic environment.

Over 85% of users feel secure when using their banking environment to make the payment.

Results from Worldline study.

Banks have implemented their user flow to validate payments in a highly heterogeneous manner, creating complexity for PSPs in adapting to this situation. Wordline offers to streamline this complexity by managing a portion of the user interface workflow. You can simply initiate a payment with a straightforward API call, without needing to consider the complexity of the user experience. In addition to the basic payment initiation, our solution also provides regulatory reporting capabilities, simplifying the integration of the new payment method into existing payment offerings.

Extended Functionalities.

Combining Account-to-Account Payments with instant payments, bulk payment, recurring payments and future-dated functionalities will become one powerful tool for Payment Service Providers. It allows for improving PSP merchants’ businesses and lets consumers benefit by offering this convenient and secure payment means. We invite you to explore possible opportunities brought forward by PSD2/PSD3 and open payments and get access to a unified Open Banking API.