Account to Account (A2A) payments take off; now worth over half a trillion dollars

The 2023 version of The Global Payments Report by Worldpay, has revealed that Account to Account payments are now worth $525 billion globally – and are projected to grow at 13% year-on-year between now and 2026.

While A2A payments have been around for some time as inter-bank payments such as the United States’ Automated Clearing House (ACH) system, Worldpay’s new report says they are now growing fast thanks to the rising number of real-time payments (RTP) rails implemented in 64 markets around the world – four more than existed last year.

A2A payments have long been used between businesses, and more recently in person-to-person use cases such as Swish in Sweden or VIPPS in Norway – but now they are taking off as person-to-business (P2B) payments.

Around the world, Worldpay projects significant growth in existing A2A schemes, and the emergence of further schemes as more countries awaken to the benefits A2A payments bring to both merchants and consumers.

Peru’s Yape and PLIN A2A systems are run by private banks, while in Thailand, PromptPay is a major government initiative designed to transform the country’s financial infrastructure by offering instant payments between accounts both online and at point of sale.

As the graphic below shows, systems in Brazil, Canada and elsewhere are also set for rapid growth.

The rise of Open Banking in some European markets such as the Netherlands and the UK is adding to growing interest in A2A payments between people and businesses, as new payment types such as variable recurring payments promise to take the hassle and time out of managing utility bills, club fees and other regular payments.

Merchants appreciate the lower cost of payment acceptance in A2A payments, as transactions are not intermediated by major card networks and thus not subject to interchange fees.

Another attraction for merchants is the opportunity to settle funds instantly: reflecting these benefits, some merchants are now offering discounts to consumers who choose A2A payments over cards and other methods.

For their part, consumers appreciate the safety, simplicity, and speed of A2A payments. Given such advantages over card and other payments, Worldpay say that A2A payments could pose a significant threat to legacy payment value chains such as card payments.

For more about the rise of A2A payments and their threat to legacy payment value chains, download the new edition of The Global Payments Report now.

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