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Modulr glossary

A2A (Account-to-Account Payments)

Account-to-Account (A2A) payments involve the direct transfer of funds between two bank or e-money accounts without intermediaries like card networks. These transactions can be executed via real-time payment systems such as Faster Payments, SEPA Instant, or Open Banking frameworks. A2A payments are gaining adoption in consumer and business payments due to their cost efficiency and speed, making them a compelling alternative to traditional card-based transactions. In the travel sector, where card payments dominate B2B transactions, A2A payments can reduce fees, and card payments have begun to offer them on A2A solutions.

Applications

E-commerce:

Reduces fraud in online card payments by verifying the cardholder's identity

Banking and fintech:

Helps issuers and payment providers comply with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements.

Advantages

  • Enhanced security: Reduces unauthorised transactions by verifying that the genuine account holder is authorising the payment
  • Fraud prevention: Helps reduce chargebacks related to fraud.

Challenges

  • User Experience: Additional authentication steps can cause friction and increase checkout abandonment
  • Implementation complexity: Requires integration with card schemes and issuer systems.

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